Thirty-nine countries will present their voluntary national reviews (VNRs) to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2025. The majority will present their third VNRs. Guatemala, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Qatar will present their fourth. There are no first-time presenters on the list.

UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Bob Rae circulated the final list of presenters in a letter dated 7 October 2024.

Twelve countries – Angola, Bulgaria, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Malta, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Papua New Guinea (PNG), Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Africa, the State of Palestine, and Suriname – will carry out their VNRs for the second time.

Twenty-three – the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, the Gambia, Germany, Ghana, India, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Sudan, and Thailand – are third-time presenters.

In his letter, Rae notes that, consistent with previous practice, “it is expected that the VNRs will be presented at the ministerial level,” with further information concerning modalities to be communicated “in due course.”

The letter also indicates that the UN Secretariat will soon be contacting countries with information concerning arrangements for the first VNR preparatory workshop, which will take place in the first week of December.

The HLPF, which meets under the auspices of the 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 2025 HLPF will address the theme, ‘Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind.’ It will conduct in-depth reviews of SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals). SDG 17 is the only Goal to undergo review annually.

To support Member States in their reporting, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is updating 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 and will be made available on the HLPF website. [HLPF 2025]