The Campaign for a Decade of Accountability for the SDGs is collecting input from stakeholders on ways to advance accountability for the 2030 Agenda. The survey will remain open until 31 July 2020.

The Campaign for a Decade of Accountability is a multi-stakeholder partnership to aims to “bolster concerted action and amplify efforts to hold duty bearers to account for their commitments to sustainable development in a coordinated manner.” Advisory Group members to the Campaign include the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the UN Global Compact, and World Vision. The Campaign is complementary to the UN’s Decade of Action and Delivery for the SDGs.

Survey respondents are asked to: rank specific challenges to accountability for the SDGs in their country, and indicate support needed to address them; comment on expected impacts of COVID-19 on SDG accountability in their country; share information on their country’s platforms enabling stakeholders to engage with the SDG accountability; and how global processes can help to advance SDG accountability. The survey also requests examples and case studies on specific actions that have been undertaken to enhance SDG accountability. 

Inputs collected through the survey will feed into the forthcoming ‘Global SDG Accountability Report’ with recommendations for advancing accountability for the 2030 Agenda. The survey is available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.

Also on advancing accountability, the Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) launched a publication analyzing how nine countries’ voluntary national reviews (VNRs) have addressed SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), in comparison with how civil society reports have done so, over a two-year period. The publication provides recommendations for stakeholders to enable stronger and more inclusive reporting for SDG 16 in subsequent reporting cycles, including:

• Integrate findings from civil society reports into VNR reports;
• Scale up reporting, monitoring, and review of SDG 16-related actions, such as: measures to mainstream SDG 16 into development plans, collection and use of data, including non-official sources, and targeted policies with a focus on leaving no one behind;
• Establish platforms for civil society representatives to regularly engage with government on issues relevant for sustainable development;
• Use existing platforms (HLPF, regional economic commissions’ fora for sustainable development, expert group meetings on specific SDGs) to encourage dedicated awareness raising, peer exchange and global learning; and
• Increase comparability of civil society reports, possibly through templates and other guidance.

[Publication: SDG16 in VNRs and Spotlight Reports: Reporting on Progress, Reflecting on Inclusive Accountability Measures and Recommendations for going ahead]