Business
SDGs: FG Trains MDAs On Reporting Format, Standards
The Federal Government has commenced the training of officials of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to build their capacity on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reporting formats and standards.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Yemi Kale, at the opening of the two-day Capacity Training Workshop on Tuesday in Abuja, said the training was critical to the monitoring and reporting of SDGs.
The Tide source reports that the training is being done by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Kale was represented by the Director of Real Sector and Household Department in NBS, Dr Isiaka Olarewaju.
SDGs comprising 17 goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators was launched and adopted by the 193 Heads of Governments including Nigeria in September 2015.
The SDGs is a successor framework for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to foster inclusive development while addressing the economic, environmental and social aspects of Sustainable Development.
Kale said that the experience from the MDGs implementation in Nigeria pointed to critical challenges posed by lack of comprehensive and harmonised data to monitor progress of the goals.
“This could be attributed to weak capacity of the agencies responsible for the provision of the required statistical information.
“Thus, to avoid the mistakes of the past, Office of the Special Assistant to the President on SDG (OSSAP-SDG) in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and NBS decided to take participants through the standards and formats for reporting on SDGs.’’
“The aim of the workshop is to ensure the production of data monitoring of the SDGs indicators both at the national and sub-national levels.’’
According to him, the bureau is making efforts to strengthen the System of Administrative Statistics in the MDAs and other agencies in charge of statistical production.
Business
Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons
Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.
Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.
The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.
Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.
“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.
“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”
Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.
In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.
Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.
Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.