The United Nations (UN) has launched a dialogue campaign in Pakistan to discuss development priorities across the country. The campaign is being launched ahead of the International Summit on Sustainable Development Goals in New York next month. The UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan, Julien Harneis, said that the dialogues will help the UN agencies better understand which development issues local leaders see as their priorities outside the Federal and provincial capitals. Under the campaign, the UN office in Islamabad will engage more than one thousand local leaders, living in 12 major cities outside the federal and provincial capitals, to discuss the development priorities. During the dialogues, the participants will discuss the development challenges which impede economic and social progress in these districts. They will also discuss the opportunities for development and how the UN can support their efforts. The dialogues are part of the UN's commitment to working with local partners to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The goals are a set of 17 ambitious targets that aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030. The UN is confident that the dialogues will help to identify the key development priorities in Pakistan and that the UN will be able to work with local partners to achieve these priorities.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)