THE ROLE OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN EFFECTIVE SDG ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING PRACTICES IN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an international system aiming at overcoming such wide-ranging problems as poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. In Pakistan, the SDGs implementation is high; there is a generally contribution of government organizations, which is concentrated on the issues of optimality of SDG accounting and reporting. Stakeholder participation is also necessary in the implementation of SDGs, and this adds transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness in showing the activities done in reporting. In the following paper, the importance of stakeholder interaction in enhancing the SDG accounting and reporting practices of the public sector organizations in Pakistan will be discussed. Remarkably, the paper observes that it is significant to include SDG reporting through involving as many stakeholders as possible, including government agencies, the civil society, international development partners, local communities, and academia. The paper has also discussed the two obstacles to stakeholder involvement, which comprise ignorance of reporting as well as lack of coordination and shortage of resources, that pose an inhibitor to impressive reporting on SDGs. The paper suggests a topic for future research and a hypothesis about stakeholder communications and their influence on the performance of SDG reporting based on the existing literature and the facts observed in real life. This research work will help us to deepen our knowledge of the mechanisms that are necessary to boost SDG accounting and reporting in the Pakistani public sector, through which the developmental activities will be built into a more consistent and transparent one.