The Role of Legislative Aides in Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria
- September 27, 2021
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: IJRSI, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VIII, Issue IX, September 2021 | ISSN 2321–2705
The Role of Legislative Aides in Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria
Livinus A. NANDI & OLUSEGUN B. Maiye
National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, National Assembly, Abuja, Nigeria
Introduction
The need to make global development holistic has been in the forefront of the agenda of the United Nations (UN). No doubt that the international organization has been developing frameworks to help reduce the gaps in development between the first and third world countries. One of these frameworks in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which was later replaced in 2015 by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the major challenges faced by the former MDGs was its inability to get local legislation by member states of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The SDGs, which came into effect in January 2016, are a universal set of economic, social and environmental goals and targets that member states of the UN are expected to achieve by 2030. The SDGs build and expand on the eight MDGs by focusing on critical dimensions of sustainable development in both emerging and advanced countries, ranging from human rights obligations, good governance, social justice, equity within countries, environmental sustainability, vulnerability to the exclusion of marginal populations and the poorest of the poor (Meyer-Ohlendorf, Gorlach, and McFarland, 2013).
Like the MDGs, the SDGs will not be legally binding; they represent a political commitment to development by all UN member states (Meyer-Ohlendorf et al., 2013). Ultimately, these universal goals are meant to create a standard that ensures the balancing of economic development and global environmental goals with poverty reduction objectives (Sachs, 2012).
Until now, the debates surrounding SDGs have mainly concerned the setting of goals and indicators. Less attention has been paid to discussing the roles and responsibilities that different stakeholders should take in