Thirty-six countries will present their voluntary national reviews (VNRs) to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2026. All the countries on the list have presented their VNRs at least once before. The majority are third-time presenters. Egypt and Switzerland will present their fourth VNRs. Togo and Uruguay – their fifth.

Twelve countries – Albania, Algeria, Burundi, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Mozambique, Moldova, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Somalia, and Tonga – will carry out their VNRs for the second time.

Twenty countries – Bahrain, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Estonia, Guinea, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Malawi, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Tanzania – are third-time presenters.

The HLPF, which meets under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), is the main UN platform on sustainable development. All UN Member States as well as representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs) participate in the HLPF. 

The 2026 HLPF will address the theme, ‘Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for a sustainable future for all.’ It will conduct in-depth reviews of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals). 

To support Member States in their reporting, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has updated its handbook for countries that prepare to present their VNRs. The handbook supplements the UN Secretary-General’s guidelines for voluntary common reporting at the HLPF. Lessons learned and best practices and tools for VNRs are also available. Read about the First Global Workshop for 2026 VNRs here.

HLPF 2026 will be held from 6-15 July 2026 at the UN Headquarters in New York, US, including the high-level segment of the Forum from 13-15 July. ECOSOC’s ministerial segment will convene from 13-16 July.

According to the website, “[t]he outcome of the HLPF and the high-level segment of ECOSOC is a negotiated ministerial declaration.” The consultative process towards the ministerial declaration is co-facilitated by Permanent Representative of Albania Suela Janina and Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone Michael Imran Kanu. [HLPF 2026]