Overview – For the Press
As the world is tackling a persistent COVID-19 pandemic, it is being hit by the impact of the war in Ukraine, amidst the continuing climate crisis, rising poverty, inequalities, a looming global food emergency and a financial crisis. The conviction that we can overcome this confluence of risks and crises will bring together over 1000 participants from all sectors of society at the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development on 5 to 15 July 2022.
The Forum is the central UN platform to track and promote progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015 to end hunger and poverty; deliver quality education; ensure access to health care, clean water and sanitation for all; achieve gender equality; promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth; protect the planet and oceans and mobilize the required financing and technologies. This year, it will take the full measure of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SDGs. It will discuss how the international community can effectively recover from the pandemic in a way that realizes the deep systemic changes and reforms we need in order to achieve the SDGs. It will also review in depth Goal 4 on education, Goal 5 on gender equality, Goal 14 on life below water and Goal 15 on life on land, and how Goal 17 on partnerships for the Goals ties them all together.
The HLPF will also feature the launch of the 2022 Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goals progress report, providing the latest data on how the world is faring in the efforts to achieve the Goals.
Accomplishing the SDGs in spite of world challenges
With the world caught in a storm of crises, the need for global solidarity has become ever more urgent. The SDGs provide the best guideposts for overcoming the challenges of our time and building a better world. As the blueprint agreed on by the international community in 2015, the SDGs can mobilize collective efforts to recover better from COVID-19 and create more resilient, peaceful and equal societies. Although progress toward the many of the Goals has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, they also provide the policy agenda for a more sustainable future and a better world that can give hope and direction to people.
We are at a critical moment to turbo-charge our efforts to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and planet by 2030 – stepping up our work to transform the international financial architecture; driving major economic transitions, renewing the social contract; and investing in data systems.
The emergency social protection or health measures adopted in response to COVID-19 have opened the door for bolder action to strengthen social protection and health systems and combat inequality. The financial resources from recovery packages need to bolster investment in the SDGs and green and climate-proof investments. Participants in the Forum will discuss whether this is actually happening and demand responses and actions.
The Forum has the responsibility for providing political leadership, guidance and recommendations to ensure the 2030 Agenda and 17 SDGs remain relevant and ambitious. The Forum is a time to review the situation regarding the SDG while directing efforts to overcome the impacts of COVID-19 in today’s crises to ensure the SDGs are achieved.
In that context, 44 countries, both developed and developing, will present their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of national implementation of the SDGs. They will specifically present the progress they have made and the obstacles they face in implementing the Goals. This year, countries are expected to share how they were impacted by COVID-19 as well as the lessons they have learnt in the context of implementing the sustainable development agenda.
Reviews by countries at the Forum provide the opportunity to mobilize support and advice to overcome shared challenges, identify new and emerging issues and provide recommendations for implementing the Goals. The presentation of reviews is a peer learning experience and can spur further action to implement the SDGs.
The VNR countries in 2022 are: Andorra, Argentina, Belarus, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Pakistan, The Philippines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Switzerland, Togo, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.
The Forum will culminate in the adoption of a ministerial declaration. It will also kick off preparations for the Sustainable Development Goals Summit to be held in September 2023.