30 October 2018: The permanent representatives of Bahamas and Sweden will serve as co-facilitators for the political declaration resulting from the two meetings of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in 2019.

Announcing the appointment of co-facilitators in a letter to UN Member States, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces recalls that, per the July 2016 UNGA resolution on follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda (70/299), the HLPF convenes under the auspices of both the UNGA and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and when both sessions convene in the same year they result in “only one political declaration, covering the different and complementary functions of both sessions.”

The HLPF will convene under ECOSOC auspices from 9-18 July 2019, during which it will conduct in-depth reviews of SDGs 4 (quality education), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 10 (reduced inequalities), 13 (climate action), 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and 17 (partnerships for the Goals), and discuss the voluntary national reports (VNRs) of 51 countries. In addition, the UNGA will convene a meeting of the HLPF at the level of Heads of State and Government for one-and-a-half days from 23-24 September 2019.

Sheila Gweneth Carey, Permanent Representative of Bahamas, and Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative of Sweden, will consult with Member States “with a view to producing a Political Declaration, for consideration of the Assembly during the 74th session,” Espinosa writes. [Letter of UNGA president]