President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Bob Rae has appointed co-facilitators “for an open and transparent consultative process for the ministerial declaration” of the 2025 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and ECOSOC’s high-level segment in July.
Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic Jakub Kulhánek and Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Inga Rhonda King will co-facilitate the consultations.
In a letter dated 11 December 2024, the ECOSOC President notes that HLPF 2025 will be held under the auspices of ECOSOC from 14-18 July 2025 at the UN Headquarters in New York, US, whereas the high-level segment of the Council will take place from 21-24 July. The three-day ministerial segment of the HLPF will convene in parallel, from 21-23 July.
Underscoring that, in line with the relevant UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions, 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,” the ECOSOC President states “every effort shall be made to reach consensus in all meetings of the forum.”
HLPF 2025 will be held on 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 review 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).
At HLPF 2025, 39 countries will present voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the national level. These are Angola, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, the Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Nigeria, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Philippines, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Africa, the ‘State of Palestine,’ the Sudan, Suriname, and Thailand.
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. [HLPF 2025]