Tajikistan presented its National Voluntary Review at the High Level Political Forum 2017 Session (HLPF)

On 19 July 2017 at the United Nations headquarters in New York Tajikistan presented its Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the implementation of the Agenda 2030 during High Level Political Forum 2017 Session. VNRs aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The VNRs also seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Tajikistan’s VNR entitled “Enhancing well-being through integrating sustainable development goals into national development policies in Tajikistan” was presented by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mr. Nematullo Hikmatullozoda. The review was compiled by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Minister Hikmatullozoda noted that Tajikistan in order to achieve the SDGs has adopted the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan until 2030 (NDS). As the major strategic document of the country, the NDS identifies priorities and major directions of the government policy aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth, improving access of the population to basic social services, and poverty eradication.

Mr. N. Hikmatullozoda also noted that as a result of the necessary reforms and implementation of relevant programs and strategies Tajikistan made enormous progress in reducing the poverty rate from 83% in 2000 to 30,3% in 2016. It should be noted that during this meeting a number of UN member states, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan spoke and highly appreciated Tajikistan's achievements in this direction. Congratulatory messages on the presentation of the VNR were also received from the representatives of Libya, El Salvador and Panama.