11 June 2019: Together 2030 and Newcastle University are conducting a survey of stakeholders’ perceptions regarding national processes to follow up on the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The online survey aims to contribute to discussions on ways to strengthen stakeholder engagement in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

The survey focuses on Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) and the follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, with particular attention to data from civil society members based in the 47 countries that have volunteered to present VNRs at the July 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2019. Those countries are: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Eswatini, Fiji, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UK, Tanzania and Vanuatu. More information on VNRs that will be presented at the 2019 HLPF is available here.

Survey questions address, among other topics, positive practices in governments’ collaboration with civil society and other stakeholders in implementing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs at the national level.

Survey’s responses are expected by 1 July. Researchers from Newcastle University and Together 2030 then will carry out follow-up interviews with a small number of respondents to explore aspects of best practice for governments’ engagement with civil society and other stakeholders in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

Current practices in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda will be the subject of UN General Assembly (UNGA) consideration during the 74th session. In 2016, the UNGA decided to review progress on the implementation of UNGA resolutions related to the HLPF (66/290 and 70/299) during its 74th session “to benefit from lessons learned” from the Forum’s first cycle. To inform preparations for this review, the July 2019 session of the HLPF will include a session on lessons learned from the first cycle of HLPF, and on messages on ways to improve the HLPF for the 2019 SDG Summit.

Also in preparation for the UNGA’s review of follow-up mechanisms for the 2030 Agenda, an expert group meeting took place in May 2019. Participants exchanged views on multi-stakeholder participation in the follow-up and review process, and the VNRs, among other aspects. [Perception survey on VNRs and the follow-up of the 2030 Agenda]