“Myanmar is still confronting the initial challenges of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation. The country needs to expeditiously align its policies with the 2030 Agenda, create an inter-governmental structure and develop an SDG financing plan. The country also needs to energetically address the “data deficit” for effective monitoring of the SDG delivery. Once these are done, the country will be well poised to address the “second generation challenges” of SDG delivery”. This was said by Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Chair, Southern Voice while providing a keynote on 25 January 2020 at the AMI Conference in Yangon. The three-day conference (24-26 January 2020) focused on the progress and prospect of achieving of SDGs in Myanmar. The event was jointly organised by Australia Myanmar Institute (AMI) and Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, University of Yangon.

Referring to the Southern Voice study, Dr Bhattacharya further said that the “second generation challenges” have proved to be crucial for the implementation of the SDGs in the Global South. These relate to the identification of those who are left behind, exploring the synergy and trade-off among Goals, and understanding the impact of international governance on domestic development policies.

At the event, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya was introduced by Dr Anindya Chatterjee, Regional Director (Asia) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The vote of thanks was offered by AMI Chairman, the former Ambassador Mr Christopher Lamb. The conference was attended by government officials, academics, development partners and a large number of students.

Earlier at the AMI Conference, on 24 January 2020, Dr Bhattacharya addressed a session on “Data and the Sustainable Development Goals”.

In Yangon, on 23 January 2020, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya also gave a keynote address on “Gender Equality: Prioritising Actions SDG Context: Global and South Asian Experience”, at an event organised by Centre for Economic and Social Development (CESD).