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https://doi.org/10.56556/gssr.v2i2.481  

                                                                  

 

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REVIEW ARTICLE  

The Role of Parliamentarians in Implementing SDGs in Pakistan: A Qualitative Study 

Incorporating Lessons Learned across Eight Countries  

Syed Asad Ali Shah1*, Syed Ali Mujtaba Zaidi2 

1Riphah International University, Islamabad Pakistan; asad.shah@live.com: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8182-8502 
2Anthro Insights; Mujtaba.e3@gmail.com 

 

Corresponding Author: Syed Asad Ali Shah; asad.shah@live.com  

Received: 04 April, 2023, Accepted: 05 May, 2023, Published: 13 May, 2023 

 

Abstract 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a comprehensive framework for addressing social, economic, and 

environmental challenges facing countries around the world. The role of parliaments in implementing the SDGs has been 

widely recognized, but the extent of their impact remains uncertain, particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan. This 

paper aims to investigate the role of parliament in implementing the SDGs in Pakistan and to draw lessons from other countries 

that have successfully integrated the SDGs into their legislative processes. To achieve this objective, a qualitative research 

design was employed, which included a comprehensive analysis of lessons learned from other countries. The findings suggest 

that while the Pakistani parliament has taken steps towards aligning its policies with the SDGs, there is still a long way to go 

in terms of effective implementation. Lessons learned from other countries indicate that parliamentary oversight, public 

participation, and capacity building are key factors in successful implementation of the SDGs. The paper concludes with a 

series of recommendations for enhancing the role of parliament in implementing the SDGs in Pakistan. 

Keywords: SDGs; Parliament of Pakistan; implementing SDGs; developing countries; environmental challenges 

 

Introduction 

In 2015, countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable 

Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, 

building on the success of the Millennium Development 

Goals (MDGs). However, the Sustainable Development 

Goals (SDGs) are a blueprint for achieving a much more 

sustainable future for all people (OECD, 2017). The main 

purpose of the SDGs was to address the global challenges 

being faced by international communities, and poverty 

eradication is the overarching target of this new agenda. A 

few of the other issues include inequality, environmental 

degradation, illiteracy, peace, and justice. Each goal 

interconnects with the others; therefore, it is important to 

incorporate all 17 goals and leave none unaddressed (Hák et 

al., 2016). Moreover, these new goals are unique in their 

nature as they call for action by not only the poor or 

developing countries but also the rich-income countries to 

promote long-term sustainability, inclusive development, 

and prosperity while protecting their environment. 

Furthermore, Goal 16 (Goetz & Jenkins, 2016), also known 

as the governance goal, reflects the Inter-Parliamentary 

Union's (IPU’s) and United Nations Development 

Program's (UNDP’s) long-held view that democratic 

governance is not only an end in itself but also a means to 

achieving sustainable development through strong 

legislative and other important national institutions 

(Kettunen et al., 2018).  

With the advent of the SDGs, the global community has 

turned its focus to the question of their effective 

implementation, both at the national and international levels. 

To ensure the successful implementation of SDGs, there is 

a need for an effective structure of procedures, functional 

institutions, and legal frameworks to not only promote but 

also implement SDGs to achieve desired results in the long 

https://doi.org/10.56556/gssr.v2i2.481


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run (Kaushik, 2019). Each country will have its own level 

of prioritization of the goals/targets according to its capacity, 

understanding, and circumstances; therefore, countries must 

be provided enough space to determine and implement the 

goals they feel are most important to them. Moreover, it is 

not necessary that all 17 goals are relevant to every country; 

however, a strong commitment towards achieving them and 

effective implementation policies must be made by the 

national actors, including the Parliament, for the 

accomplishment of those targets that are applicable in their 

case (Oosterhof, 2018; Kettunen et al., 2018). Therefore, 

with the help of the national parliament, countries should 

translate global sustainable development goals into national 

sustainable development targets, each according to their 

needs (Hassan, 2022). 

It is perhaps true that a country’s parliament can act as a 

catalyst in implementing the SDGs, as it is widely believed 

that without a political will, the probability of success of 

progressive reform in any country is almost equal to null. 

Therefore, for the implementation of the SDGs through an 

effective institutional structure, the political environment of 

that particular country should be conducive to such 

progressive changes (Biermann et al., 2022). The issue is 

that the political arena, for the most part, is dominated by 

self-interests at the cost of the common good/interest which 

hinders the proper functioning of our legislative or 

administrative processes (Ugoani, 2017). 

Therefore, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 

puts emphasis on localizing SDGs in national practices by 

coordinating the already existing national policies towards a 

common target that fulfills the agenda of "Green Growth" 

(Lee et al., 2016). Each country will therefore have to 

identify its own priorities in this regard and move towards 

localizing such targets with the help of parliamentarians and 

national actors for effective implementation. Moreover, the 

national development plans of countries should be adjusted 

by the Sustainable Development Agenda (Meuleman, 2021). 

These new development plans should encompass all 

possible dimensions of inclusive growth by tilting towards 

a much more holistic policy intervention against anti-

development-related challenges, i.e., poverty. The SDGs 

provide an opportunity for all parliamentarians to illustrate 

their focus and commitment towards public welfare and 

well-being and the improved health of the environment. 

Furthermore, the SDGs have laid down a framework based 

on which national actors can pursue their own targets and 

move towards prosperity (Chungong & General, 2018). 

It is of great concern as to how parliament can play a role in 

the implementation of the SDGs. Parliament is a key 

institution under which a state runs, the legislative body is 

responsible for making laws that describe the rights and 

obligations of state-actors towards one another, which 

enables a state to function properly.  The Parliament also 

plays an important role in the budget allocation process, as 

they approve how much and where the budget should be 

allocated (Hege & Brimont, 2018). As not only the law-

makers but also the elected representatives of their people, 

parliamentarians have a major role to play in promoting 

people-centered development; therefore, parliamentarians 

must ensure their citizens' needs and interests are being 

fulfilled through government-initiated programs or plans 

(Adiputri, 2021). 

Moreover, the emphasis on the importance of parliaments 

and stakeholders getting involved in the national 

implementation of SDGs became stronger after the first 

review of the UN of MDG implementation in 2005; it was 

argued that it was extremely important that these goals were 

not being implemented in isolation, further arguing that 

engagement of the parliament would lead to much more 

progress in the country (Adiputri, 2021). 

Undoubtedly, parliamentarians are responsible for 

supporting and monitoring the implementation of the SDGs 

within a country and promoting the 2030 Sustainable 

Development Agenda (Lee et al., 2016). Parliamentarians 

have a special role to play in Goal 16 of the SDGs, which is 

“Sustaining Peace and Good Governance,” as they are the 

promoters of peace and justice for all and responsible for 

building effective and accountable institutions at local levels 

(Hope, 2022). This goal can only be completely achieved 

through the participation of parliamentarians through 

effective law-making, representing the interests of the 

public, and ensuring accountability and inclusiveness 

through proper monitoring (Kettunen et al., 2018). The 

presence of accountable and transparent institutions that 

take timely actions will guarantee proper implementation 

and desired outcomes, as implementation rests critically on 

accountability. Therefore, in order to achieve national 

sustainability goals, parliamentarians must look into 

unexplored areas to improve the effectiveness of their 

systems and processes (Guha & Chakrabarti, 2019).  

An inclusive process can help nationalize and 

institutionalize the SDG agenda. In this process, a national 

SDG group is established that is responsible for providing 

guidance regarding the implementation of these goals. The 

parliamentarians are also included in these group activities, 

as their participation can help incorporate nationals’ views 

and provide institutional support (Fitsilis & De Vrieze, 

2020).  



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Figure 1. Proposed elements for implementation of the SDGs 

Moreover, the national development plans are reviewed by 

the governments to ensure they are in accordance with the 

SDGs for achieving inclusive growth in the country. Public 

participation and consultation would further help in the 

efficient and effective implementation of national 

development targets. Lastly, monthly progress reports by 

the governments could be helpful for monitoring and 

evaluating the status of targets post-implementation to see if 

they are on track (Walshet et al., 2019). 

The proper implementation of the SDGs depends on the 

following tools at the national level, as mentioned in Figure 

1. All four dimensions that enable the implementation of the 

SDGs can be managed by the parliament. Law-making 

behaves as an enabling tool for the national implementation 

of SDGs in a way that a country’s legislature that promotes 

equality, a pro-poor policy agenda, inclusiveness, public 

accountability, and local participation in decision-making 

can better ensure the national preparedness towards 

achieving SDGs (Fitsilis & De Vrieze, 2020). Therefore, 

parliamentarians must be mindful of the kind of legislature 

their governments have proposed in the country and whether 

or not it promotes human rights. Moreover, the successful 

implementation of the SDGs depends on budgeting. The 

parliamentarians should carefully engage in this process by 

evaluating how much of the government funds are being 

allocated to their national SDGs and identifying if sufficient 

funds are being allocated, especially to areas that are 

vulnerable and socially excluded (Fitsilis & De Vrieze, 

2019).  Monitoring and Evaluation includes the pre and post 

assessment of government policy interventions in achieving 

national development plans, M&E will help national actors 

keep track of the progress of their national sustainable 

development targets. Lastly, local participation and 

representation act as an enabling tool in pointing out gaps 

and weaknesses in the national implementation of the SDGs, 

as local citizens and stakeholders can bring forward their 

wider concerns and how they can be effectively met (Tam, 

2022). 

A self-assessment toolkit designed by the Inter-

Parliamentary Union in order to support parliaments in 

becoming “fit for purpose” and carrying out their prime 

functions of legislation, budgeting, and representation on 

the SDG agenda. This self-assessment mechanism is used as 

a tool to provide assistance to parliaments around the world 

for their preparedness to firstly engage with the SDGs, look 

for different strategies, processes, and mechanisms that will 

ensure and support the implementation of the SDGs 

(Oosterhofm, 2018). Parliamentarians will get to identify 

multiple opportunities, practices, and gaps that need to be 

filled; as a result, they can easily institutionalize the 

sustainable development agenda in their national policies 

and legislative processes. Moreover, self-assessment may 

help governments identify their capability and capacity in 

terms of their preparedness for involvement in the 2030 

Agenda and implementation of the SDGs in their respective 

countries. It will allow the governments to realize where 

they currently stand and where they want to go (Bexell & 

Jönsson, 2022). Furthermore, for the parliaments to stand 

strong on their human rights agenda, they need to include 

women and other minority groups within the country either 

through new electoral laws under which new deserving 

candidates could be hired or through participatory 

LOCAL PARTICIPATION & 

REPRESENTATION   

 

IMPLEMENTATION 

OF SDGS 

 

MONITORING & 

EVALUATION   

 

LAW AND ORDER 

BUDGET 

ALLOCATION 



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development. This way, the issues captured by the 

Sustainable Development Targets will have legitimacy, as 

now the citizens will demand them (Dirth & Zondervan, 

2019). 

On October 15, 2017, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 

and the United Nations Development Program released the 

second Global Parliamentary Report; the aim of this report 

was to highlight the role of Parliament in the implementation 

of SDGs around the globe (Chiniaeva & Chiniaeva, 2021). 

Additionally, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda 

has also emphasized the role of Parliament in holding its 

government accountable for actions taken to eradicate 

extreme poverty and work towards green growth (Bexell & 

Jönsson, 2022). According to the report, the 

parliamentarians are given a golden opportunity to increase 

their participation and engagement in government-led 

actions to promote sustainable development in the country 

through proper implementation. Since the role of 

parliaments is also law-making, they can easily translate the 

language of the SDGs into their national law, which will 

compel the government to take initiatives and timely actions 

(Mulholland, 2017).  

During the Declaration of the 2030 Sustainable Agenda, it 

was clearly stated  

“We acknowledge the essential role of national 

parliaments through their enactment of legislation 

and adoption of budgets and their role in ensuring 

accountability for the effective implementation of 

our commitments.” 

The Sustainable Development Goals Partnership Platform 

has also initiated the idea of having a Parliamentarian 

Assembly for the implementation of SDGs on a voluntary 

basis, in which parliamentarians and other actors will join 

hands to advocate the efforts to implement SDGs in national 

plans or legislations for their effective implementation (Tam, 

2022).  

Methodology 

This study adopted a case study research methodology that 

included a thorough examination of lessons (case studies) 

from parliaments in other countries. The synthesis of the 

aforementioned study designs creates a thorough analysis. 

The goal of the current study was to develop lessons learned 

on the function of parliaments in implementing the SDGs. 

The field of SDG interactions has rapidly advanced since the 

adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015, but the field is still 

relatively new. This paper could serve as the basis for the 

future research studies.  

Data triangulation was employed to ensure the validity and 

reliability of the findings. This process has been found to be 

helpful in corroborating findings, supplying more complete 

data, and improving comprehension of the subject matter 

under consideration. The insights derived from comparative 

case studies were synthesized to formulate a set of 

recommendations for enhancing the role of parliament in 

implementing the SDGs in Pakistan. 

Lessons Learned from Other Parliaments  

The IPU is actively supporting parliaments in assessing their 

capacity to work on the SDGs in Fiji, Mali, Djibouti, Serbia, 

with Namibia, Kenya, and Sri Lanka in the pipeline, to name 

but a few (Nanda et al., 2020; Guet et al., 2020). We have 

organized regional seminars for parliaments in the Asia 

Pacific region, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern 

Europe, and Central Asia, and the list goes on. We also 

promote parliamentary engagement and contributions to 

country SDG reports to the UN, a process that takes place 

every summer at the UN in New York. I have just come from 

this year’s session, where there is growing evidence that 

governments and parliaments are working together to move 

forward with the SDG agenda. That is a good lesson worth 

emulating (Sherr et al., 2020).  

Samoa 

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has been the 

only tripartite agency of the United Nations (UN) since 1999, 

and it brings together governments, workers, and employers 

from all around the world in order to set labor standards. In 

2016, UN agencies, in partnership with multiple 

Government Ministries of Samoa, including the Office of 

the Clerk and Legislative Assembly (OCLA), held a special 

workshop aimed at training new members of the Parliament 

on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals 

(Guerrero-Ruiz et al., 2021).  

Malaysia 

Malaysia is one of the countries facing issues with food 

security. Many rice fields in the country are being converted 

into housing colonies or commercial areas. Penang State 

Legislative Assembly, YB Dr. Norlela, State Assembly 

Person for Penanti, has been working to spread awareness 

about this issue among the general public. She is doing so 

through the Penang Paddy Festival, whose goal is to not 



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only raise awareness about the hardships faced by paddy 

farmers, but also shed light on the rapid urbanization of 

agricultural land in Malaysia (Abd Rahman & Yusof, 2020). 

Azerbaijan 

In a speech on the role of Parliament in the implementation 

of the 2030 Agenda, Ghulam Isaczai mentions how all state 

institutions in Azerbaijan have been actively participating in 

the implementation of the SDGs. He went on to explain the 

important role of parliaments as powerful agents of change. 

In his own words, 

“Parliaments play an important role in the 

localization, implementation, and monitoring of 

the SDGs. Parliamentarians are close to the 

people and can serve as advocates, mobilizers, 

and first-line ‘ambassadors’ for the SDGs. In 

representing those who elected them, and offering 

a platform for communication, parliaments can 

ensure an ongoing dialogue with civil society over 

the SDGs.” 

According to him, parliaments must not only incorporate 

SDGs into national laws but also monitor their 

implementation by ensuring that the government is held 

accountable to the people for national progress in terms of 

achieving SDGs (Aliyev, 2019).  Additionally, parliaments 

can contribute a great deal by guaranteeing that  national 

development is inclusive and participatory, and that 

sufficient financial resources have been allocated for its 

success. Isaczai also commends parliaments from around 

the world that are taking notable action to advance the SDGs. 

As a few examples, he shares that the Parliament of 

Kazakhstan adopted a statement committing itself to the 

promotion of the SDGs in parliamentary affairs. Whereas, 

the National Assembly of Pakistan established an SDG Task 

Force to promote debates, engage MPs, and increase 

awareness of the SDGs. And finally, the Parliament of 

Trinidad and Tobago established a new Joint Select 

Committee on the Environment and Sustainable 

Development (Taghieva, & Hashimova, 2019). 

He concludes his speech by naming a few of the important 

legislations on which the Parliament of Azerbaijan has 

worked: 

● The draft legislation on mandatory flour 

fortification is  essential to reduce anemia, 

especially among women and children. 

● Review of current legislation on inclusive 

education in order to build an  enabling 

environment to achieve the SDGs goals on quality 

education for all. 

● The adoption of the new Law on the Rights of 

Persons with Disabilities is important, as it would 

help to accelerate reforms in this field. 

● Adoption of the revised law on youth policy will 

bring current legislation in line with best 

international practices. 

 

United Kingdom 

The UK adopted the SDGs in 2015 and has since committed 

itself to not only achieving these goals domestically, but to 

helping other countries do the same. In order to gauge the 

progress made since 2015, the UK Government will be 

presenting its Voluntary National Review to the UN in July 

2019. For this purpose, the International Development 

Committee held an inquiry into UK progress on the SDGs, 

inviting written submissions on the government’s progress 

on the SDGs (Jones & Comfort, 2020). 

Finland 

Finland has been one of the most successful states in terms 

of SDG promotion. It has made commendable efforts in the 

field, including follow-up reports by Civil Society 

Organizations on Finland and the 2030 Agenda, which not 

only compare the current condition of SDG achievement in 

the country to UN standards, but also highlight what the 

country must do to improve in areas even if it is already 

doing well (Taghieva, & Hashimova, 2019). According to 

their Government Report on the Implementation of the 2030 

Agenda for Sustainable Development, one of the basic 

principles regarding the implementation of the SDGs is 

Society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development (SCSD) 

- The Finland We Want by 2050. It consists of 8 goals for 

Finland to achieve by 2050, and was updated to align it with 

the 2030 Agenda, making them synonymous. This 

commitment presents Finland’s national interpretation of 

the 2030 Agenda and, thus, is a plan adopted by the entire 

Finnish society to achieve the SDGs. In short, the SCSD is 

an implementation mechanism that enables citizens, 

businesses, organizations, municipalities, and other 

stakeholders to participate in the implementation of the 2030 

Agenda (Väänänen & Pöllänen, 2021). 

In 2016, a number of studies were carried out to assess 

Finland’s preparedness to implement the 2030 Agenda on 



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the basis of indicator-based material, stakeholder opinions, 

and literature. The results are divided into Finland’s success 

areas, which it must sustain, and critical points, which 

require urgent action (Gade et al., 2022). Such studies and 

reports have been used in the creation of Finland’s SDG 

Plan. To further make use of this data, different stakeholder 

groups, the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable 

Development, and the Development Policy Committee 

organized multiple events in which proposals were 

presented by the Expert Panel on Sustainable Development 

to highlight key priority areas for Finland, which served as 

valuable reference material and guidelines for the Plan 

(Ylönen & Salmivaara, 2021). 

 

Sri Lanka 

In October 2018, the Parliamentary Select Committee on the 

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in collaboration 

with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and 

the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) of Sri Lanka, held a 

workshop on the critical role of Parliament and 

parliamentarians in implementing the Sustainable 

Development Goals. The aim of the workshop was to help 

parliamentarians and their members assess their 

preparedness to engage with the SDGs and identify 

additional strategies, mechanisms, and partnerships to 

support the implementation of the SDGs more effectively. 

Honorary speakers in the workshop included not only 

members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and notable 

government officials, but also speakers from the private 

sector, non-governmental organizations, and youth 

organizations (Wijegoonawardana, 2019).  

The Republic of Seychelles 

Despite their small size and many constraints, the groups of 

islands that make up the Seychelles have been 

demonstrating commitment towards the achievement of the 

SDGs not just at the international level but in regional 

partnerships and agreements and in national policies, action 

plans, and institutional frameworks (Baker et al., 2023).  

Through global initiatives such as the Global Island 

Partnership (GLISPA), Seychelles has been successfully 

engaging leaders from over 60 countries and has joined 

hands with overseas territories for island conservation and 

sustainable use of natural resources. In collaboration with 

UNDP Seychelles, the National Assembly of the country 

hosted a panel discussion on Engaging Parliament on the 

Sustainable Development Goals, to celebrate their first 

International Day of Parliamentarianism. Members of the 

Department of Economic Planning and the Bureau of 

Statistics gave presentations with regards to SDGs in 

relation to their respective organizations (Gungadeen, & 

Paull, 2020). 

The 2020 Sustainable Development Outlook for Seychelles 

highlights the current condition of the SDGs in Seychelles 

and how to improve them. Using macro-indicators such as 

economic development and social well-being, the Outlook 

also presents warning trends that may hinder the process of 

achieving the SDGs. This provides great assistance in 

formulating the next step to achieve a more sustainable 

Seychelles (Etongo, 2022). 

Australia  

Among other efforts, Australia has also established a 

reporting platform that provides official government data on 

the SDG indicators (Allen et al., 2020). In December 2017, 

the Australian Senate requested that its Foreign Affairs, 

Defense, and Trade References Committee examine and 

report on the SDGs. This report was to include not only the 

understanding of SDGs among the wider Australian 

community and government but also a cost-benefit analysis 

in terms of SDG implementation in the country. 

Additionally, the Committee recommended the following to 

the Australian Government:  

● Publish a national SDG implementation plan that 

includes national priorities and regular reports of 

Australia’s performance against the goals; 

● Provide an indicator-based assessment to 

Parliament at least every two years that tracks 

Australia’s performance against the Goals; 

● Establish a national SDG secretariat to, inter alia, 

provide support to the existing interdepartmental 

committee; 

● Provide effective coordination of Australia’s 

actions to implement and report on the SDGs; 

● Develop a framework to ensure that its agencies 

include the SDGs in their annual reporting by 

2020-2021; 

● Support state, territory, and local governments to 

create their own plans for the implementation of 

the SDGs in their jurisdictions; 

● Partner with “private and tertiary sector” 

stakeholders to develop and disseminate Australian 

guidance on reporting against the Goals; and 



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● Identify opportunities to assist small and medium 

enterprises (SMEs) to build capacity to access 

sustainable procurement and reporting systems. 

 

What role can Pakistani parliamentarians play in 

implementing the SDGs in Pakistan? 

Pakistan has shown great commitment towards the 2030 

Agenda for Sustainable Development; moreover, it was one 

of the first countries to ever approve of the agenda in 2015. 

On February 16, 2016, the Pakistani Parliament approved 

the Sustainable Development Goals as the national 

Development Plan (Dobrowolski, & Sułkowski, 2019). 

Furthermore, it is one of the few countries to create a 

Parliamentary SDGs Secretariat under the National 

Assembly; this was indeed a vital step taken to promote 

sustainable growth in the country. The 18th Amendment 

touched upon several other functions, including that of 

providing social services to the provincial governments 

through the federal governments.  Moreover, Pakistan has 

had panel discussions on the SDGs with other actors 

involved in order to strengthen efforts to promote and 

achieve sustainable development in Pakistan along with the 

eradication of poverty (Galli et al., 2018). Additionally, 

Pakistan’s Vision 2025 has established 7 pillars that the 

country has to achieve, these pillars are in full alignment 

with the Sustainable Development Goals, therefore, and it 

can be argued that efforts have indeed been made to 

incorporate the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in 

the country’s national planning (Katramiz et al., 2020).  

Through the involvement of the Ministry of Planning, 

Government of Pakistan, and Planning and Development 

Departments of provincial governments, along with the 

support of the United Nations Development Programme, 

Pakistan has launched a five years joint project called 

"National Initiative for Sustainable Development Goals to 

Institutionalize the 2030 Agenda” (Latif et al., 2022). 

National and international actors are working towards the 

coordination, reporting, monitoring, and financing of the 

SDGs in the country. They are also providing policy 

prescriptions through R&D (Asad, 2019). Along with that, 

the team is also raising awareness among citizens and 

stakeholders regarding the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable 

Development Targets with the use of different 

communication tools and a variety of activities (Javeed et 

al., 2021).  

It is important to remember the already existing mission on 

which Pakistan was built in the first place. While 

incorporating the historical targets, the parliament should 

address the SDGs in their relationship. As argued by the 

Inter-Parliamentary Union, it is important to first sensitize 

parliamentarians on issues like human rights, gender 

equality, and human well-being through capacity building 

(Tam, 2022). The first and foremost step should be to inform 

the parliamentarians and parliamentary staff and train them 

on their role in the national implementation of the SDGs. 

Once that is done, sessions should be conducted to initiate a 

debate among parliamentarians and parliamentary staff on 

the SDGs and their importance and analyze their capacity 

and preparedness for SDG implementation. An example is 

the Sri Lankan initiative (Albert et al., 2019). The stronger 

the parliament’s relations and interactions with its 

government, citizens, stakeholders, etc., the higher the 

chances of achieving sustainable growth in the country. 

Additionally, different organizations working within the 

country can join hands with the Pakistani Parliament to 

promote local development preferences and needs through 

local participation, which can be difficult to identify at the 

state-level (Fatima et al., 2020).  

Finland’s Society’s Commitment to Sustainable 

Development (SCSD) - The Finland We Want by 2050 is an 

implementation mechanism that enables citizens, businesses, 

organizations, municipalities, and other stakeholders to 

participate in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda 

(Räkköläinen & Saxén, 2022). Even though the Pakistani 

Parliament has established a national plan - Vision 2025, 

along with seven goals that are aligned with the SDGs - the 

implementation of sustainable development targets can only 

be achieved once every citizen takes responsibility to make 

efforts to promote green growth. The Pakistani Parliament 

must not only sensitize the masses at the grass-roots level 

but also utilize its legislative authority in order to 

incorporate the SDGs into the national laws of Pakistan. 

Doing so will normalize the concept of achieving 

sustainable development at a personal level, which in turn 

will compel every individual to work towards it to the best 

of their abilities (Abbasi et al., 2022).  

The 2020 Sustainable Development Outlook for Seychelles 

highlights the current condition of the SDGs in Seychelles 

and how to improve them. Similarly, Finland has been 

reviewing its SDG Plan based on the studies conducted 

within the country regarding success areas that it must 

sustain and critical points that require urgent action. 

Additionally, these countries conduct multiple events in 

which proposals are presented by experts on sustainable 

development to highlight key priority areas for their 

respective countries, which serve as valuable reference 



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material and guidelines for their national agendas 

(Benzaken et al., 2022).  

 

Conclusion  

Pakistan is still facing a huge number of economic, 

governance, and security issues. It is important to notice that 

Pakistan was ranked 147 out of 188 countries in the year 

2015 on the Human Development Index (HDI), which is the 

first indicator towards achieving sustainable growth (Olsen 

& Zusman, 2014). The human rights agenda is perfectly 

aligned with the SDGs; therefore, in order for the Pakistani 

parliament to engage itself in the implementation of the 

SDGs in the country, it must first shift its focus on the 

human rights dimension. Moreover, Pakistan ranks 143 out 

of 144 countries in the gender inequality index; this is also 

quite alarming, as without inclusive participation in the 

country, the Parliament may fail to establish rules that 

govern sustainability (Brollo et al., 2021). Furthermore, 

Pakistani society as a whole lacks a culture of accountability 

due to high levels of corruption both on micro and macro-

levels. In the same way, the Parliament needs to safeguard 

the rights of minority groups and the public, respectively. 

The Pakistani Parliament, like all other parliaments, can 

play a vital role in the engagement and implementation of 

SDGs in the country through its alignment with the national 

plan (Khan & Ali, 2019). 

However, in order for that to be successful, the Pakistani 

Parliament must be empowered to effectively and 

transparently pass laws in the country, engage itself in the 

budget allocation process, hold the government accountable 

for its commitment towards achieving a sustainable Pakistan, 

and monitor the implementation of SDGs by using an 

inclusive and participatory approach (KHAN, 2020; Xu et 

al., 2023).  

 

Acknowledgement: None 

 

Funding: None 

 

Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest declared   

 

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