The President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has closed the list of countries that may present voluntary national reviews (VNRs) during the July 2021 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

In a letter to governments on 22 October 2020, ECOSOC President Munir Akram notes that countries presenting a VNR for the first time will have 30 minutes each. Countries presenting second or third VNRs are allocated 20 minutes, and they are grouped with other countries for panel-format presentations.

The final list includes 44 countries. They include ten first-time presenters, 25 presentations of second reports, and nine countries presenting a VNR for the third time. 

The list consists of ten African countries, 14 from the Asia-Pacific region, three Eastern European states, 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries, and six countries from the Western European and Other States Group (WEOG), using the UN’s categorization of countries into five regional groups.

The table below identifies the 44 countries along with their region and whether they will present a VNR for the first, second or third time.