UN Member States are reviewing a revised draft of the Ministerial Declaration to be adopted at the close of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2021. Consultations on the text will resume on 17 May.

The co-facilitators for negotiations – the Permanent Representatives of Finland and Iraq – issued the finalized outline for the Declaration on 12 April and a zero draft on 17 April. The zero draft included sections on:

• the impact of COVID-19 on the 2030 Agenda and building back better; 
• assessing the SDGs under review in 2021, with a paragraph on the state of each Goal and one on the targets that had a 2020 deadline;
• other priority issues, and
• accelerated action.

Following a meeting on 22 April to exchange views on the text the co-facilitators produced a revised draft on 3 May, which retains the same structure. In the revised draft, the section on assessing the SDGs notes that each paragraph should indicate progress on implementation, along with challenges, actions, and solutions.

The paragraph on the 2020 targets uses the same language as in the zero draft, referring to keeping track of and accounting for other intergovernmental processes “to allow updated targets to reflect a suitable level of ambition for 2030.”

The section on “other priority issues” consists of paragraphs on: leaving no one behind; gender; middle-income countries; recognizing that “sustainable development cannot be realized without peace and security and that peace and security will be at risk without sustainable development;” human rights; children and youth; countries in special situations; trade; biodiversity; and the need to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of States. The section no longer contains a paragraph on: multi-dimensional poverty; decent work; data – which is addressed under “accelerated actions”; climate – which is addressed in the paragraph on biodiversity; or science, technology and digital cooperation – which are addressed under “accelerated actions.”

The next consultations are scheduled for 17 and 19 May 2021. At these virtual meetings delegations will review the draft Declaration section by section and provide comments. 

The 2021 session of the HLPF will take place from 6-15 July under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). [Ministerial Declaration letters and drafts]