Hanifah: Ministry sets up VLR, national SDG monitoring framework

KUCHING (Sept 15): The Voluntary Local Review (VLR) will be implemented to monitor Malaysia’s progress in achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), said deputy minister of Economy Dato Hanifah Hajar Taib.

According to her, the VLR is a process where local or regional governments voluntarily assess and report their progress in implementing the SDGs, helping to localise and advance global sustainability targets within their communities.

“The VLR will help identify gaps and provide guidance for improving unclear areas of progress while allowing us to gauge the level of participation from each state and local authority in the SDGs,” said Hanifah, who is also the Mukah MP.

She told this to the reporters when met at the half marathon charity event, hosted by the Malaysian Muslim Welfare Organisation (Perkim) Sarawak at the State Library (Pustaka) here today.

Commenting further, she said the VLR implementation was not something straightforward but required adaptations based on the needs of respective geographical locations.

“It’s not about finding right or wrong answers, but more on understanding where improvements are needed and where we have strengths, and from there, we can offer more information and guidance to those areas requiring support,” she explained.

In this regard, she said collaboration between the federal and state governments, and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were essential to keeping Malaysia on track in achieving its SDG targets.

Hanifah also informed that the Malaysia SDG Summit will be held this Sept 17 and 18, focusing on discussions with government officials, NGOs, and the public to enhance SDG implementation across various states.

On the Perkim fundraising run which saw around 1,500 participants, Hanifah noted that the event aligned with one of the SDG goals—good health and well-being.

“It is a way to raise funds for Perkim and also contributes to our goal of promoting healthy living through this event,” she said.

The event attracted participants both locally and from other states in Malaysia, as well as from eight countries—Kenya, Singapore, Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, China, the United Kingdom, and Belgium.

It also included participants from 18 different sectors, including ministries, government-linked companies (GLCs), NGOs, and the corporate sector.

Also joining the event were minister of Women, Family and Community Development Malaysia Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri; deputy minister in the Premier’s Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali; Kuching North Datuk Bandar Hilmy Othman; and event organising chairperson Datin Azerina Mohd Arip.