President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Lok Bahadur Thapa has appointed co-facilitators “for an open and transparent consultative process for the Ministerial Declaration” of the 2026 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and ECOSOC’s high-level segment in July.

Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone Michael Imran Kanu and Permanent Representative of Albania Suela Janina will co-facilitate the consultations.

In a letter dated 11 February 2026, the ECOSOC President states that, in line with the relevant UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution, the HLPF meeting under the auspices of ECOSOC “shall result in a negotiated ministerial declaration to be included in the Council’s report to the General Assembly” and that “every effort shall be made to reach consensus in all meetings of the forum.”

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.

Convening under 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,’ HLPF 2026 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). 

According to the HLPF website, 36 countries will present voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the national level at the 2026 HLPF. These are Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, Estonia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kiribati, Liberia, Malawi, the Marshall Islands, Mozambique, Norway, Moldova, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Switzerland, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Tanzania, and Uruguay.

Updated handbook for the preparation of VNRs and the UN Secretary-General’s voluntary common reporting guidelines for VNRs will support the presenters in their endeavors. Lessons learned and best practices and tools for VNRs are also available. Read about the First Global Workshop for 2026 VNRs here. [HLPF 2026]