November 13 and 15, 2019, Colombo, in 2015, Sri Lanka became the first country in the Asia-Pacific Region to establish a Cabinet-level Minister and a Ministry for Sustainable Development. There was a Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee dedicated to Sustainable Development and Environment and Natural Resources which provided the legal framework for preparing a National Strategy to facilitate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Government ministries are tasked with developing strategies, policies, and plans to achieve the SDGs; the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine (MoHNIM) is the national focal point on SDG 3, which is to “ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages”.
The MoHNIM with support from the World Health Organization Country Office for Sri Lanka convened a technical consultation with relevant stakeholders for the development of a roadmap for the National Action Plan on SDG 3. This 2-day residential consultation workshop took place in June 2019. A follow-up workshop was held on November 13 and 15, 2019 to review the specific programme plans. During this meeting, all stakeholders responsible for specific SDG 3 indicators presented their action plans. The plans were reviewed by a panel of experts and comments were provided. The presented action plans will be merged into a single National Action Plan for SDG 3.
The key recommendations to accelerate and overcome bottlenecks to achieve SDG-3 are:
- Address diverse socio-economic determinants and inequalities with a comprehensive approach.
- Facilitate and sustain strong institutional mechanisms for coordination with different ministries and agencies for the implementation of an SDG 3 action plan, including the alignment of provincial plans.
- Strengthen the role of the SDG 3 National Focal Point with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and assign focal points at each ministry, including at the provincial level.
- Develop a systematic monitoring and evaluation system for SDG 3 targets that includes accountability within the MoHNIM.
- Allocate adequate financial resources for achieving the SDG3 targets at the national and provincial levels. Including action plans outlining how the resources will be utilized.
- Stay actively involved in the primary health care reorganization and ensure relevant services are included in the new plan.
- Ensure citizen engagement and representation in decision-making at all levels.
Make the achievement of the SDGs a key driver of national research priority setting and allocate resources for the implementation of research on identified areas of work.