Category Archives: Voluntary National Reviews (VNR’s)

HLPF – High-Level Political Forum 2023

Change is possible! The problem is political will!

The High Level Political Forum will take place July 10 – 19 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Part of the session will be given over to an in-depth review of Goals 6 on clean water and sanitation, 7 on affordable and clean energy, 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals.

Forty countries will carry out Voluntary National Reviews – Good Shepherd are present in the following: Belgium, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, Syrian Arab Republic, and Vietnam. The EU is also presenting a report. All reports can be viewed at this link. Click on your country and you can see the report that your country has presented. It surely is admirable that member states comply with reporting procedures – 2 presenters will present for the first time, 37 for the second time, and 1 for the third time and this within 7 years. It is mid-way on the journey to 2030. The picture painted of implementation to date is discouraging. Quoting from the Secretary-Generals Report paragraph 4 ‘at the mid-way point on our way to 2030, the SDGs are in deep trouble. A preliminary assessment of the roughly 140 targets with data show only about 12% are on track; close to half, though showing progress, are moderately or severely off track, and some 30% have either seen no movement or regressed below the 2015 baseline.’ A second report entitled the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) 2023 is more interesting with its color codes of progress and lack of progress. It is still in draft form and will be published just before the SDG Summit on 18 and 19 September 2023. This summit is held every 4th year under the auspices of the General Assembly.

JCOR (Justice Coalition of Religious) has prepared a PowerPoint Presentation to facilitate navigation around the two weeks program of HLPF (High-Level Political Forum. It is available in four Languages English; French; Spanish; and Portuguese.

It is a rich resource compiled in 20 slides containing links to access events taking place and towards the end, there is social media information – including handles, #hashtags, and samples of social media messaging in relation to SDG 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17. This page is a handy page for reference with regard to side events and special events. This graphic from Side 10 shows the date when each of the 40 countries is presenting – if you go to the slide, the links are live, bringing you directly to the report of the country.

Ernestine Lalao from Madagascar is at the GSIJP Office and will attend the two-week HLPF program with a special focus on Africa. Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the two countries from Africa presenting Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). Ernestine is following in particular with the sisters in Burkina Faso and I will focus on the elimination of child labor with reference to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

JCOR is presenting SDG LABS beginning on July 10 and focusing each day on a different SDG that is under review. These sessions are open to anyone and are largely perspectives and experiences from the ministries. They start at 8.00 am EST Monday to Thursday and again on Monday, July 17th. Register: https://bit.ly/3CNY8Do
Details: https://bit.ly/3PnzzEM
Interpretation will be available in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish

Above your team at the HLPF! Left Ernestine from Madagascar; Top – Ernestine on a tour of the United Nations in the General Assembly Hall where the opening of the HLPF will take place; Middle with Sude, an intern in the office, with Nelson Mandella in the backgorund and bottom Winifred, Sude, and Kimberly Moloche. This is what our compiled schedule looks like over the two weeks.

HLPF and Voluntary National Reviews (VNR’s)

Voluntary National Reviews (VNR’s) are scheduled to start on the afternoon of July 10th between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 pm New York time. 47 Countries are scheduled to present. The voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aim to to share national experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The presentation of the VNRs seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the SDGs.

July 10, 2pm – 4pm Armenia, Ecuador, Honduras, Samoa, Slovenia.

July 13, 9am – 12pm Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda.

July 13, 2pm – 4pm Argentina, Benin, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru.

July 14, 10am – 1pm Finland, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burundi, Gambia, Russian Federation.

July 14, 3.15 – 4.15 Micronesia, North Macedonia.

July 15, 10am – 1pm Estonia, Austria, Seychelles, Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

July 15, 2pm – 4pm Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.

July 16, 9am – 1pm Comoros, DRC, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malawi, Republic of Moldova, Zambia.

July 16, 2pm – 4pm Barbados, Liberia, Solomon Islands

Check the website and click on date The session will be webcast on UN Web TV Live at the date and time or in the archives for listening at a later time.

Map showing the number of countries for each region.

This page of the website gives you the list of the 47 counties with a copy of the report that the country has provided to the United Nations.

Ending of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF)

The UN mechanism for reviewing implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (High Level Political Forum – HLPF) ended on July 19th with the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration.  The adoption of this declaration affirming what is already committed to was not without political tensions around two issues – foreign occupation and means of implementation.

It is interesting to compare our experience on the ground with all the rhetoric of 8 days.  Good Shepherd is present in 20 of the countries reviewed.  In a survey with 13 responses from the 20 of the countries making voluntary reviews there appears to be some discrepancy between the experience of the 8 days and reaching actual programs with people who are among those furthest behind.  Read our report on on efforts towards linking ministry with national implementation programs – Report HLPF 2017 GSIJP Office

Our analysis of 13 countries as an organizations was part of a bigger survey in preparation for the HLPF which was reported on July 17th  Grassroots

Cecilie was able to live stream the event on Facebook – Click on Event live-streamed

If you are interested in following up on what your government presented you have two options – look at the webcast or read the report.  The Voluntary National Reviews took place over three days July 17, 18 and the 19.  To find the relevant webcast  click HERE and then click on the date.

Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 7.11.20 PM

July 17th – Voluntary National Review (VNR) 1 Nepal and Brazil;   Webcast    VNR  2 Indonesia and Japan;  Webcast VNR 3 Costa Rica and Kenya;  Webcast   VNR 4 Malaysia and Chile  Webcast

July 18th – VNR 5 Peru;  Webcast  VNR 6 Italy and Guatemala;  Webcast   VNR 7 Czech Republic, Thailand and Argentina; Webcast    VNR  8 Portugal and Uruguay; Webcast        VNR 9 Panama; (Webcast not available)

July 19 – VNR 10 Honduras and India;  Webcast and VNR 13 El Salvador; Webcast

The reports for each country can be accessed  HERE   Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 7.09.52 PM

A very full account of the proceeding has been prepared by TAP Network  (Transparency, Accountability and Participation Network)   Another very informative way of having some insight into the proceedings are notes from  International Institute for  Sustainable Development  (IISD) – Summary Highlights Daily Coverage. Click IISD   There are some great photographs too!

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