31 October 2018: The Sustainable Development Transition Forum (SDTF) recommended measures to promote SDG implementation, including to establish an “early achievers'” alliance, to continue to organize “VNR Labs” as platforms for informal exchanges among countries, and for governments to not only report actions but also offer analysis of policy impacts when presenting their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
The UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) convenes the SDTF annually to promote implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Forum takes place each year in advance of the HLPF, and focuses on the SDGs to be reviewed that year. The sixth meeting took place in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 29-31 October 2018.
In the Incheon Communiqué resulting from the 2018 SDTF, participants noted that 2019 will represent “a crucial moment” in strengthening political will for implementing the 2030 Agenda, as the HLPF will convene twice instead of once – first under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in July, which takes place each year, and second under the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September, at the level of heads of state and government.
In 2019, the HLPF will review SDG 4 on quality education, SDG 8 on economic growth, employment and decent work, SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, SDG 13 on climate action, and SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, as well as SDG 17 on partnership and means of implementation, which is reviewed yearly. This will complete the HLPF’s first cycle of reviews of each of the 17 SDGs; SDTF therefore plans to review progress on the 2030 Agenda as a whole in 2019, as well as discussing progress on the individual Goals to be reviewed by HLPF that year.
The Incheon Communiqué refers to HLPF as a success but with “room for improvement.” It calls for stronger action on the part of the HLPF in fulfilling its existing mandates, in particular agenda-setting and addressing emerging issues, and to provide stronger guidance on leaving no one behind and reaching the farthest behind first. It recommends producing an action-oriented ministerial declaration that reflects discussions at each HLPF, including of the VNRs presented and the lessons learned from national experiences.
Participants propose that thematic reviews conducted by the HLPF focus more on interlinkages across the SDGs, and that countries presenting VNRs for the second time could do likewise. They suggested that the opportunities offered by the UN’s regional sustainable development fora could be better utilized, and that the HLPF should recognize the contributions of such fora. Further discussions highlighted the challenges of improving data quality and reliability for monitoring SDG achievement, promoting evidence-based approaches, and institutionalizing the engagement of stakeholders.
The annual SDTF is organized by the UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) together with the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). It aims to provide an interface between the HLPF and the various state and non-state actors and stakeholders involved in implementation of the SDGs [UNOSD Meeting Webpage] [SDTF Key Messages Document] [2018 Incheon Communiqué] [UNOSD Concept Note]