In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will inform their development agendas and policies over the next 15 years. Parliaments have a crucial role to play in advancing the integration of the SDGs and monitoring national progress, while both holding governments accountable for the goals they have subscribed to and also making sure that enabling laws are passed and budgets adopted.
It is within this framework that the National Assembly of the S.R. Viet Nam and the Inter-Parliamentary Union are jointly organizing a Regional Seminar on the Sustainable Development Goals for the Parliaments in the Asia-Pacific region. The Seminar will take place in Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam) from 11 till 13 May 2017 and will be part of a series of IPU regional seminars to advance the work and contribution of parliaments to the SDGs.
The seminar will provide a platform to identify which practical steps parliaments can take to support the implementation of the SDGs in their respective countries and in the region as a whole. Through the prism of the climate change challenges facing the region, it will focus on the role of different stakeholders in the responses to climate change and on the requirement for national parliaments to take action in the form of legislation and to fulfil international commitments. Gender equality, as well as health and resource mobilization will also be at the core of the discussions.
The seminar will also be informed by a field visit to Ben Tre province, where participants will be taken of a tour of areas that are affected by climate change and will also meet with officials of the Provincial People’s Committee.
The documents of the meeting are available in English only. | 
