In Malaysia, there are few people more engaged and, importantly to say, more passionate about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) than Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, honorary professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
In July, Malaysia reached an important milestone towards achieving Agenda 2030 with its 2nd Voluntary National Review (VNR), the main governmental tool to update the international community over a country's journey towards the SDGs.
To have a better grasp of this momentous achievement, I talked to Jayasooria, who walked me on the journey Malaysia is embarking upon, the progress made and challenges ahead in charting a more sustainable and progressive future.
As co-chair of the Malaysia CSO-SDG Alliance, Jayasooria has been very involved in preparing this VNR, which is a big improvement in relation to the first edition in 2017.
We should first of all strike a positive note. Not because there are no challenges for the country as we all bear witness to the effects of the pandemic and the multiple crises it unfolded, from a public health crisis to a livelihoods crisis, morphed into a real poverty epidemic.
First of all, in the VNR, there is full recognition of the challenges ahead and, in a certain way, an acknowledgement of the shortcomings and issues that must be solved.
A nation not afraid to look at itself in the mirror can find the strength and farsightedness to plan a future course, creating a more sustainable, less fossil fuel-dependent prosperity in an inclusive fashion, engaging those left behind before the pandemic and those trapped in an enlarged poverty net since then.
Most notable is that the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) led by Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, minister in Prime Minister's Department for economy, has been committed to engaging civil society.
Due to the fact that the time was very short, shared Jayasooria, the process was not perfect because not all members of civil society could be involved, but it was a much robust and solid collaboration this time, a real partnership.
"In 2021, civil society was a member of the drafting group of the technical working committee. We had access to the draft, we tried to improve it with our insights.
"Overall, there have been acknowledgement of the existing challenges. The engagement was stronger and there were intensive discussions to finalise the report and civil society was entirely involved, " said Jayasooria.
There is great hope that this leap forward in terms of approach to the preparation, based on efforts to institutionalise the SDGs at the centre of policymaking at the federal level, will lead to even more engagement and partnerships between the federal government and civil society.
"They gave us their word that from now onwards there will be more periodic interactions and engagements. This is a commitment officially stated in the VNR version that was published."
The proposal from CSO-SDG Alliance is to have interactions every four months, institutionalising the relationship among key stakeholders, including members of parliament.
Indeed, there's now a special caucus on SDGs called All Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals, which the CSO-SDG Alliance supports technically and acts as its secretariat.
No doubt the "governance" related to the SDGs will evolve and the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara will also have their own autonomous know-how in SDGs, but the partnership with CSO-SDG Alliance is, for now, an effective and practical solution.
We should not forget, the main decision-making body for the national SDG governance structure is the National SDG Council, under the leadership of the prime minister.
According to Jayasooria, there is a sincere effort at establishing multi-stakeholder task forces at local levels, a process that would lead to truly localising the SDGs, embedding them in local planning.
So far, there has been a follow-up on the VNR, a partnership between Institute Masa and the parliamentarians that are assuming the role of "SDGs champions".
Moreover, the EPU is creating a so-called "poverty circle", a network of academicians, activists and experts to brainstorm ways to reduce poverty and this, according to Jayasooria, is quite impressive. "We are hopeful, we are optimistic, but at the same time, we need to be also cautious because of political contestation and things of this sort, because political will is quite critical in this context, as well as strong citizen awareness."