New York, 17 July 2024 - African member states attending the 2024 High Level Political Forum in New York presented their Voluntary National Reviews showcasing efforts made to implement the SDGs and Agenda 2063, amidst pressing challenges, such as high indebtedness, climate impacts, conflict and instability in some countries. A milestone for the continent was South Sudan, which presented the results of its first voluntary national review on 16 July at a VNR Lab session themed: “Against all odds: Meaningful VNRs in fragile and conflict-affected situations, held on the margins of HLPF.
Nassim Oulmane, Acting Director at the Climate Change Food Security and Natural Resources Division lauded South Sudan, saying: “The Economic Commission for Africa congratulates South Sudan for conducting its first voluntary national review this year. With this, Africa has achieved universal coverage of voluntary national reviews (VNR). All the 54 African countries have now conducted at least one voluntary national review in the implementation of the SDGs and Agenda 2063.”
The VNR Lab featured panel presentations by representatives from four countries in fragile and conflict affected situations.
Mohamad Al-Hawri, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, of Yemen focussed his intervention on the use of scenarios to overcome data gaps and building consensus on priorities, while Taher Belhassan, General Director of the Planning Institute, and Head of the Sustainable Development Committee, Ministry of Planning of Libya, underlined financing and migration key priorities for the country.
Huseyn Huseynov, Head of Department for Sustainable Development and Social Policy, Ministry of Economy, and Secretary of the National Coordination Council on Sustainable Development, of Azerbaijan highlighted approaches to address national priorities not captured in the 2030 Agenda framework, stressing the need for an “SDG 18 focussed on demining the country.”
Augustino Ting Mayai, Chairperson, National Bureau of Statistics, of South Sudan addressed digitalization of the data collection system and use of other external data sources to bridge data gaps and inform policy, especially in relation to SDG 16, which focuses on “promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development and providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
The presentations and the interactive discussions underlined the challenges faced by these countries in conducting VNRs. Countries had adopted innovative approaches to generate, access and validate data and statistics for their VNRS. Although not optimal due paucity and poor access to data paucity, the VNRs of these countries were “nevertheless timely and important in spotlighting and garnering political support and partnerships to address the root causes of conflict and fragility, and putting the countries on path to sustainable development,” according to Oulmane.
Delegates stressed the need for support to strengthen their statistical systems including national statistical bodies, provision of essential tools and strengthening coordination mechanisms.
Mr. Oulmane reiterated ECA’s commitment to continue supporting African countries to conduct VNRs with a clear focus on data and statistics, climate change and other regional and national priorities.
The VNR Lab was organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org