PARLIAMENT OF ALBANIA
PROJECT RESOLUTIONON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
InSeptember 2015,the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development. This historic agreement – built on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals -- established for the first time a universalaction framework to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalityby promoting inclusive, sustainable development, grounded inrespect for human rights.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals laid out in the Agenda describe in detail the collective ambition of 193Member States of the United Nations to "free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and heal and secure our planet". All countries and stakeholders have pledged in the Agenda that no one will be left behind.
We, the members of Parliament of Albania, gathered together in this plenary session:
EMBRACE the 2030 Agenda and SDGs adopted by the member states of the United Nations on 25 September 2015, in particular Goal 16 which asksmember states to promoting inclusive and peaceful governance including through ensuring that parliaments are representative, participatory, inclusive and accountable institutions.
RECOGNISE that parliamentarians have a critical role to play in promoting, implementing and monitoring the 2030 Agenda and SDGs through our law-making, budget, oversight and representative functions.
ENDORSE the importance of the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental- and the need to address them comprehensively, in close connection with measures to improve the institutional fabric and capacities at both national and international levels.
UNDERSCORE that peace and security, democracy and the rule of law, the eliminationof all forms of discrimination, the empowerment of women, the engagement ofyoung generations and, last but not least, good governance are essentialrequirements for an irreversible evolution towards sustainable development.
COMMIT to partnering closely with government bodies, independent authorities, civil society, academia and private sector to support inclusive, transparent and accountable implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.
COMMIT to fulfill the promise of the 2030 Agenda to “leave no one behind” particularly with regards to vulnerable groups.
ACKNOWLEDGE the potential for ourdevelopment partners to work with parliamentarians and other national stakeholders to achievethe 2030 Agenda and SDGs; and,
HIGHLIGHT the synergies and mutual reinforcement between the pursuit of Agenda2030 in Albania and the achievement of full integration into the European Union.
DO HEREBY RESOLVE THAT WE SHALL:
1.Reflect upon existing parliamentary oversight mechanisms to ensure that parliamentarians have the tools to guide and monitor the achievement of SDGs, including:
(i)Reviewexisting regulation to ensure that parliamentary commissions include SDGs in their working agenda;
(ii)Provide guidance to the Government (Inter-Ministerial Committee) on SDGs to advance the SDG agenda both at national and local level, including through organization of hearings with permanent Parliamentary Commissions and/or their subordinate commissions;
(iii)Strengthening the capacities for Parliamentary Commissions to undertake effective SDGs oversight,including by ensuring that committee members have sufficient qualified staff and resourcesto undertake and implement participatory and transparent committee oversight processes;
(iv)Supporting the development and utilization of tools to enable parliamentarians to
undertake more effective oversight of proposed laws, budgets, programmes and policies toassess their contribution to SDGs implementation.
2.Work jointly with the Government, all partners and interest groupsto reviewthe existing legislative frameworkto identify opportunities to advance implementationof the SDGs, especially byenacting or amending laws to promote gender equality, socialinclusion and protect environment;
3.Review existing parliamentary budget mechanisms in order to ensure that:
(i)Budget appropriations and expenditures are analyzedto ensurean effective
contribution to SDG implementation;
(ii)Budget analysis includes both domestic and external resources enabling parliamentarians to promote development effectiveness and efficiency;
4.Provide support to sub-national governing bodies to implement andmonitor the SDGs recognising that they are most closely positioned to the citizensand often haveresponsibility for critical SDGs-related issues;
5.Collaborate closely with the National Statistics Office (INSTAT) to encourage the production of disaggregated data and enable parliamentarians to better access and understand data related to SDG implementation and monitoring, including inorder to better assess the geographic and demographic impact of SDGs activities;
6.Foster cooperation with independent accountability institutions (such as National Human RightsInstitutions- People’s Advocate, Commissioner on Anti-Discrimination, anti-corruption bodies and Supreme Audit Institutions), as well as with the media, development partners andcivil society organizations (CSOs) in order to enable parliamentarians to develop partnerships thatwill further their efforts to promote, implement and monitor SDGs implementation;
7.Support the development of processes and tools to strengthen parliamentary inclusiveness, accessto information, accountability and transparency to encourage increased civil society, academia andpublic engagement, particularly by vulnerable and marginalizedgroups,in the development and amendment of legislation and oversight of its implementation and of national policies on SDGs;
8.Organizeperiodicalawareness-raising activities on the 2030Agenda for parliamentarians and parliamentary staff in order to ensure they are kept updated on regional and international as well as domestic activities and processes related to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.