CF and UNDP to promote SDGs

Kathmandu, July 15: Chaudhary Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nepal Friday signed a new partnership agreement for the promotion and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nepal.

UNDP Nepal country director Renaud Meyer and Foundation's managing director Nirvana Choudhary signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to frame the partnership.

Foundation is a non-profit organisation that engages in corporate social responsibility initiatives under the Chaudhary Group.

"Under the partnership, the UNDP and Chaudhary Foundation will collaborate to undertake joint initiatives to promote and increase awareness on the SDGs focusing on the role of the private sector and mobilize stakeholders for their contribution to the achievement of the goals," read a press statement issued jointly by both the organisations.

They also said that the partnership would also optimize the foundation's contribution to, and involvement in, local economic development by strengthening linkages between micro-entrepreneurs and their businesses that would help Nepal meet some specific SDG indicators in the areas of poverty reduction, gender equality, industry, innovation and infrastructure.

The SDGs adopted by the UN member states, including Nepal, in September 2015 are the blueprint for what the world needs to do to craft an equal, just and secure world by 2030 and how to get there.

"The UNDP in Nepal is pleased to have the Chaudhary Foundation as our partner for the global goals. The SDGs are very ambitious, complex and challenging and this is why it requires active engagement of all the actors, including the civil society and the private sector," said Meyer.