UNDP, SIDA assist Serbia's sustainable development strategy

Belgrade, Feb 10, 2004 - Serbian Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Andjelka Mihajlov and UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia-Montenegro Francis O'Donnell signed on Tuesday the project document "Formulation of a Strategy for Sustainable Development of Serbia-Montenegro through Cooperation between Countries." The project, coordinated by the UNDP, will be funded by a $790,000 donation from the Swedish government, through its International Development Agency (SIDA).

The agreement envisages capacity building for strengthening the work of the Council for Sustainable Development, facilitating the formulation of Serbia's sustainable development strategy, increasing the participation of professional organisations, municipalities, and the private sector in the preparation of sustainable development strategies as well as the harmonisation of sustainable development strategies with the Poverty Reduction Strategy and action plans for environmental protection in Serbia.

National sustainable development strategies, according to a plan adopted at the Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg last year, should be implemented by 2005.

O'Donnell told a press conference that this is a great day for Serbia, and that he is very satisfied that such an important agreement has been signed. The international community attaches great importance to balanced development, whose integral part is environmental protection development.

"This is a good path towards the realisation of goals from Johannesburg and the Agenda 21, and a good path towards the future. This is also an important element in the achievement of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals, which should be accomplished by 2015. Although 2015 seems very distant, if we fail to make progress in 2004 and 2005, we will hardly achieve all our goals by 2015," said O'Donnell. He added that the Swedish government and the UNDP want to help the Serbian government to reach the millennium goals, which will be revised at the UN's General Assembly next year.

The UNDP representative in Serbia-Montenegro said that this institution will help Serbia in the development of the institutional and legal systems, as well as in boosting sustainable growth at a local level.

Swedish Ambassador to Serbia-Montenegro Lars Goran Engfelt, who attended the signing ceremony, voiced satisfaction with the fact that the Swedish government will assist the implementation of such an important project through the SIDA.