The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held from Monday, 10 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2023, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Monday, 17 July, to Wednesday, 19 July 2023 as part of the High-level Segment of the Council. The last day of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC will be on Thursday, 20 July 2023. The theme will be “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels”. The HLPF in 2023 will review in-depth 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.
ICAE will be active in the HLPF 2023 again, as we used to be in the past years. Also this year, one of the best ways FOR YOU to get active and involved already, is the the Voluntary National Review process.
Voluntary National Reviews
As part of its follow-up and review mechanisms, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development encourages member States to conduct regular and inclusive reviews of progress at the national and sub-national levels, which are country-led and country-driven (paragraph 79). These national reviews are expected to serve as a basis for the regular reviews by the high-level political forum (HLPF), meeting under the auspices of ECOSOC every year in July. As stipulated in paragraph 84 of the 2030 Agenda, regular reviews by the HLPF are to be voluntary, state-led, undertaken by both developed and developing countries, and shall provide a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of major groups and other relevant stakeholders.
The Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The VNRs also seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The VNR countries are expected to submit comprehensive written reports that will be made available in the VNR database. In addition, each VNR country will also provide main messages summarizing their key findings. These main messages are also posted in the VNR database.
Following 41 countries will present their VNRs at the HLPF 2023:
Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Comoros, Chile, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, European Union, Fiji, France, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Maldives, Mongolia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, St Kitts & Nevis, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia
For more details, please click here.
VNR preparatory Webinars
Those who are interested on the VNR process are invited to attend webinars, which are organised by Major Groups with UN DESA to share the key steps for VNR engagement. ICAE is again a co-chair of this process.
You are invited to register as follows:
- Thurs 23rd Feb 9am NY time- English, register here
- Fri 24th Feb, 9am NY time- French, register here
- Tues 28th Feb, 9am NY time- Spanish, register here
We will update you again on all our steps regarding the HLPF soon.
