The Permanent Representatives of Finland and Iraq will lead consultations on the declaration to be adopted at the July 2021 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Announcing the co-facilitator appointments, UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Munir Akram indicated that the declaration should be “action-oriented, innovative and visionary.” It should contribute to “overcoming COVID-19 and its impacts, and putting the world on track to realize the 2030 Agenda.”

In a letter of 4 February 2021, Akram said Jukka Salovaara (Finland) and Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom (Iraq) will serve as co-facilitators to prepare the ministerial declaration for the 2021 high-level segment of ECOSOC and 2021 HLPF, and facilitate consultations among Member States to reach agreement on the declaration.

Ahead of the appointment, some UN Member States have already begun to signal their positions and views for the 2021 negotiations. Due to the pandemic and in the absence of online voting procedures, the adoption of the declaration was deferred at the close of the 2020 session of the HLPF. Subsequent efforts to conclude the negotiations resumed after the session, but no agreement was found.

HLPF 2021 will convene from 6-15 July 2021 under the auspices of ECOSOC. Its thematic focus will be ‘Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, that promotes the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: Building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.’

The session will focus in particular on nine SDGs: Goal 1 (No poverty); Goal 2 (Zero hunger); Goal 3 (Good health and wellbeing); Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth); Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities); Goal 12 (Responsible consumption and production); Goal 13 (Climate action); Goal 16 (Peace, justice, and strong institutions); and Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals). [Letter from ECOSOC President]