June 2016: Among the African countries participating in voluntary national reviews (VNRs) during the 2016 session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), Sierra Leone and Uganda have provided summary reports outlining initiatives taken at the national level to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Uganda’s Executive Summary on its “readiness” for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda states that the country mainstreamed the SDGs in its current National Development Plan (2015/16 to 2019/20) and is working to strengthen the implementation and communication for this plan through: national and local-level consultations; national information, education and communication campaigns; high-level policy dialogue engagements; institutional capacity development; and revitalized engagement with the private sector. The summary notes that the country has undertaken a number of reforms to strengthen implementation and improve institutional functionality, including: the establishment of a Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit; a Government Evaluation Facility; institutional coordination mechanisms; and the issuance of certificates of compliance of the national budget with the National Development Plan.

As per the summary, out of the 231 global indicators proposed by the UN’s Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), Uganda’s national statistical framework only contains 80 indicators which have data readily available, but the country is working to develop and integrate other indicators that cover all the relevant SDG targets. The summary also indicates that SDG implementation will be monitored, evaluated, and reported through the national standard indicator framework that builds on the national monitoring and evaluation policy, and on the integrated monitoring and evaluation strategy.

In its ‘Summary Report of the Adaption of the Goals in Sierra Leone,’ the Government outlines challenges faced by the country in the past two years, including the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in May 2014, which killed approximately 3,500 of about 8,000 infected persons, and the recent crash of the international price of iron ore, its leading export commodity. In this context, the document notes that Sierra Leone sees the SDGs “as a timely opportunity to overcome development challenges ahead.”

The summary reports that the SDGs were integrated into the 2016 National Budget. The SDGs have been aligned to the eight pillars of Sierra Leone’s third-generation poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSPIII), also called the Agenda for Prosperity (A4P) 2013-2018, and they will be implemented within this framework, the government reports. It adds that a ‘Pillar Working Groups (PWGs)’ of the A4P will be modified to capture technical follow-ups and reporting on the SDGs within the pillars, and that a draft set of SDG indicators specific to Sierra Leone has been formulated.

At the institutional level, the summary highlights a proposal for a Presidential Board on the SDGs (PBS) at the highest policy and political level to provide overall policy and strategic guidance to the implementation of the SDGs. The PBS would be chaired by the Sierra Leone President, with members from the Office of the President, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC), the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator (RC).

In addition, it indicates that there will be a Ministerial Committee on the SDGs (MCS) to provide operational guidance to the SDGs process to line ministries, departments and agencies at the central and local levels, and other stakeholders such as civil society organizations, the private sector, the media and the research community. The MCS would include MoFED, MFAIC, Statistics Sierra Leone, the Open Government Initiative/Partnership (OGI/P) and Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU) in the Office of the President, and other ministries, departments and agencies.

On awareness raising, the summary notes that Sierra Leone has published a simplified version of the SDGs, distributed copies to the Parliament and the public at large, provided a briefing to the Cabinet, and organized a series of “sensitization” meetings and workshops with civil society and NGOs, local councils, university colleges, and the general public through radio and television discussions.

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is collecting inputs to the 2016 VNRs from participating governments, intergovernmental bodies, NGOs and partnerships at an online platform. The 2016 HLPF will be its first session since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, and will convene in New York, US, from 11-20 July.

In addition to Sierra Leone and Uganda, 20 other countries will present VNRs in 2016. [Inputs to 2016 VNRs] [Uganda Input] [Sierra Leone Input] [IISD RS Story on DESA Platform] [IISD RS Story on LAC Inputs] [IISD RS Story on WEOG Inputs] [IISD RS Story on VNR Guidelines]