19 July 2016: On the sidelines of the 2016 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), officials from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and governments discussed experiences with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so far, and identified factors to consider for their implementation.
The meeting, titled ‘Lessons for implementing the 2030 Agenda: the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Acceleration Reviews and the HLPF National Voluntary Review Experiences,’ was organized by UNDP, the World Bank Group, the Permanent Missions of Colombia and Germany, and took place on 19 July 2016.
Opening the meeting, Jessica Faieta, UNDP, said UNDP supported 14 countries for the preparation of voluntary national reviews (VNRs), and focused on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) acceleration in 17 countries. Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group, said the Bank will issue a publication with UNDP documenting the MDG acceleration experience in these countries. He outlined critical factors related to the 17 countries’ experiences, including institutional arrangements and coordination, and “getting the targets right.”
Simon Gaviria, Minister for National Planning, Colombia, said Colombia has partial information on 72 of the 169 SDG targets included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and no information on 38 targets. He added that 34 targets are not “country alone targets” as they relate to matters that concern other countries as well, such as immigration and trade. He noted the importance of integrating the SDGs in sub-national documents such as budget programmes, and of involving the private sector.
Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, stressed the need for monitoring and review, and for strengthening capacities on revenues. He noted that Germany has increased the capacity of the tax administration in the country, and suggested that international financial institutions (IFIs) could play a bigger role in enabling partner countries to leverage what is needed to implement the 2030 Agenda. He called for a better understanding of how to integrate private finance and to increase financing to achieve the SDGs.
Jaime Miranda, Vice Minister of Development Cooperation, El Salvador, said his country took the initiative to raise awareness on the SDGs in the country, targeting officials from the government, mayors, members of academia and sector leaders, among others. He noted the relevance of national councils for sustainable development to follow up on implementation.
Togo said its Planning Ministry will coordinate SDG implementation in the country, but each ministry will be responsible for implementation. He said Togo and other francophone countries have received training on how to integrate the SDGs in policies. Norway said budget can be used as a tool for following up on implementation, noting that in the country, SDG follow-up is linked to the Minister of Finance. Additional elements outlined during the meeting included the need for good quality and disaggregated data, capacity building, and inclusive participation from civil society and from development partners. [HLPF 2016 Website] [IISD RS Coverage of HLPF 2016] [IISD RS Sources]