Released on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the report titled, ‘SDG review as an engine for action: Promising practices from around the world‘ by Partners for Review, identifies best practices for conducting SDG implementation reviews.

The report identifies a number of best practices related to the development of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) as well as other review processes related to the SDGs. It notes that SDG reviews “have not only taken root at the national level but are now also being promoted much more actively at the subnational and regional level.” The diversity of stakeholders engaged in the reviews has also increased, with actors including supreme audit institutions (SAIs), parliaments, the media, foundations and grassroots civil society groups.

Key lessons identified in the report include:

• high-level political commitment is crucial;
• the 2030 Agenda helps overcome silos and foster policy coherence;
• working through umbrella organisations is an effective way to reach out to stakeholders;
• different actors have different roles, and it is important to clarify and communicate them;
• stakeholder involvement supports continuity; and
• the demand for peer learning is increasing.

The report provides case studies on topics ranging from “Colombia: Follow-up and lessons learned from repeated VNRs” to “The Philippines: Using citizen-generated data for SDG review and follow-up.” It explores the role of various actors in chapters on “Cameroon: Civil society spotlight report”, “UNESCAP: Role and experiences of a UN regional commission in supporting VNR processes”, and “Brazil: The evolving role of supreme audit institutions in SDG reviews.” Regional and local level reviews are discussed in chapters on “Oaxaca, Mexico: SDG review at state level” and “Bristol, United Kingdom: Voluntary Local Review – Connecting the SDGs with local realities.” Additional chapters address: “Afghanistan: SDG review in a fragile context”; “Mongolia: Enhancing policy coherence”; and “Viet Nam: Developing and harmonising indicator systems.” 

Partners for Review (P4R) is a transnational multi-stakeholder network that brings together representatives from governments, civil society, the private sector, academia, and other stakeholder groups to collaborate on topics related to the national review and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.