29 November 2016: Ahead of the 2017 session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), 31 UN Member States have volunteered so far to be part of the voluntary national reviews (VNRs), where they are expected to report on progress and challenges related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to the HLPF webpage on the UN’s Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, the 31 countries that have volunteered for the 2017 VNRs are: Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Monaco, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, Togo and Uruguay. The VNRs are part of the follow-up and review mechanism of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the HLPF, and seek to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned at the national level, to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The HLPF 2017 will consider the theme ‘Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world,’ and will be convened under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), from 10-19 July 2017. The meeting will include in-depth reviews of: SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), SDG 5 (Gender equality), SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 14 (Life below water), and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

OECD uses the latest information on various indicators to establish countries’ starting positions on individual SDG targets.

As part of initiatives taken to help countries position themselves with the SDGs, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has issued a pilot assessment of where OECD countries stand on achieving SDG targets. The study, titled ‘Measuring Distance to the SDGs Targets: A Pilot Assessment of Where OECD Countries Stand,’ uses the latest information on various indicators available in OECD databases to establish countries’ starting positions on individual targets, and presents preliminary results for a number of pilot countries. It seeks to contribute to SDG mainstreaming across different OECD Directorates, and to help governments who consider developing national action plans, by highlighting SDG areas where statistical development will be particularly important.

The study finds that: in order to implement the 2030 Agenda, national priorities should be set at the target level; there are different combinations of policies that could be implemented to achieve results; and countries may need to develop additional indicators and evidence to identify and track progress on policies that drive outcomes at the country level and that have significant transboundary impacts.

The study was presented on the margins of the 2016 session of the HLPF, and, according to the authors, should be regarded as a first step; OECD plans to refine and regularly update the content. [HLPF 2017 Webpage] [Measuring Distance to the SDGs Targets: A Pilot Assessment of Where OECD Countries Stand] [Publication Webpage] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on 24 Volunteer Countries]