Welcome to the United Nations
Introduction
In addition to its responsibility for the national implementation of sustainable development goals, Croatia is fully committed to comprehensive implementation of Agenda 2030, both within the framework of the United Nations and within the framework of the European Union where, together with other Member States of the European Union, coordinates and develops its views in regard of the sustainable development.
Sustainable development goals in the national framework of strategic planning
Bearing in mind the complexity of Agenda 2030 and its inevitable impact on the overall social and economic development, the Government of Croatia, with a view to coordinating the implementation of sustainable development goals at the highest level of the executive branch, established the National Council for Sustainable Development.
The establishment of the Council ensures political importance and visibility of the long-term process of implementation of Agenda 2030, as well as compliance with other policies, strategies and activities of the Croatian Government.
Integrated approach to sustainable development and implementation of Agenda 2030
The 2030 National Development Strategy (NDS) is being drafted, and its adoption is expected in the first quarter of 2020. Creating the NDS, and the establishment of an integrated system of strategic planning, will for the first time in Croatia enable access to long-term development planning at the level of national, local and regional-self government. The NDS is a key Croatian strategic document for the period until 2030 and will constitute the basis for the design and implementation of public policies and realization of the vision of Croatia as an open and globally competitive country.
Involvement of citizens in the achievement of sustainable development goals
In the process of elaboration of the 2030 National Development Strategy and determining the strategic framework for the implementation of the sustainable development goals, numerous communication activities, participatory workshops, conferences and round tables on the subject of "Croatia 2030: The Croatia we want", target different groups of stakeholders in sustainable development (from the public sector, civil society, academia, the private sector to children and young people). In cooperation between the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the competent state administrative bodies, a conference was organized to "Support Sustainable" aiming for a multi-sectoral consultation process on the content of the first Voluntary National Review.
Setting up a monitoring framework
In order to create a complete framework necessary for the effective monitoring of the implementation of sustainable development goals, an Information System for strategic development planning and management was set up with a view to fully integrating electronic collection and storage of statistical and financial data required to monitor and report on the implementation of strategic planning documents at all three national levels, which includes monitoring the implementation activities that contribute to achieving the UN Agenda 2030 in Croatia.
For the purpose of disseminating the results and the status of the realization of the key indicators of sustainable development among the general public, the Internet portal (of the State Bureau of Statistics) was created and modelled on the UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.
Meeting the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030
The seventeen sustainable development goals are a development plan for Croatia in the next 10 years, a framework and a tool for a better future.
SDG Index and Dashboards Report in 2018 ranks Croatia 21st out of 156 countries. Such a starting position gives Croatia a good chance of becoming, together with other Member States of the EU, one of the leaders in the transition to sustainability, both by becoming involved in setting global standards and consequently achieving its own social and economic benefits.
Challenges and further steps
In order to ensure the implementation of sustainable development goals further action will be focused on:
- Further development and improvement of the institutional setup with well defined organization, coordination and control structure,
- Defining the intervention logic to link together strategic objectives, planned implementation mechanisms, structural reforms and strategic projects within the framework of the NDS and funding sources,
- Building national statistical capacity,
- Conducting permanent information and educational activities to raise awareness about sustainable development and life and the implementation of sustainable development goals at the national and global levels.
