Bogotá, Colombia, 21 June 2012. After a year and a half of work, the Colombian proposal for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), received preliminary approval at the Rio+20 Conference and should receive full approval next Friday when all the national leaders meet.

Therefore, the SDG proposal becomes a benchmark to guide decisions and priorities for development at global level.

Ms Paula Caballero, Director of Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs of the Colombian Foreign Ministry, regarding the reception given to the proposal, said “In Rio, Colombia has achieved nothing less than the adoption of an instrument, a tool for sustainable development goals that will be one of the benchmarks or the most important benchmark of the international and national development agenda in the coming decades”.

It should be noted that the Colombian proposal already has the political support needed for implementation, as the initiative was adopted by consensus. 
As a result, a group comprised of 30 countries will be created that will work per individual regions over the next three months. One of the groups is Latin America and the Caribbean, which will have six representatives and be responsible for setting common goals for the region.

“Colombia already has spoken out and expressed its interest in participating in this group, in which we believe we have a role. This group will include individuals with unparalleled experience, with global access to information, experts and expertise”, said the Director. 

“Through the SDGs, Colombia sought to transcend rhetoric and words to focus on actions and implementation”.

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