March 2019: The UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) released a compendium of institutional arrangements adopted by the 46 countries that presented Voluntary National Review (VNR) of progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda in 2018. The publication is the third in a series, following on reports on countries that presented VNRs in 2016 and 2017.
VNRs are voluntary reviews of progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda that are conducted by countries and shared yearly during the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) when it meets under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The document titled, ‘Compendium of National Institutional Arrangements for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: the 46 Countries that Presented Voluntary National Reviews at the High-level Political Forum in 2018,’ was prepared by the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) in DESA. It provides, for each country, information on nine institutional components: national strategies; national institutional arrangements; local authorities; parliament; engaging and equipping public servants; civil society and the private sector; monitoring and review; engaging supreme audit institutions; and budgeting.
The 46 countries that presented VNRs in 2018 are: Albania; Andorra; Armenia Australia; Bahamas; Bahrain; Benin; Bhutan; Cabo Verde; Canada; Colombia; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; Greece; Guinea; Hungary; Ireland; Jamaica; Kiribati; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Latvia; Lebanon; Lithuania; Mali; Malta; Mexico; Namibia; Niger; Paraguay; Poland; Qatar; Romania; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Singapore; Slovakia; Spain; Sri Lanka; Palestine; Sudan; Switzerland; Togo; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; and Viet Nam.
Romania has created an SDG hub in each public institution to facilitate communication between them.
Among other observations, the compendium reports that some governments (at the national and sometimes also at the local level) have been providing SDG-related training to public servants, in partnership with national and international institutions. Also on engaging and equipping public servants for SDG implementation, the compendium indicates that the Greek Office of Coordination, Institutional, International and European Affairs, in cooperation with the Institute of Training of the National School of Public Administration and Local Government, organizes recurring three-day seminars on the SDGs for senior public employees. Romania, meanwhile, has created an SDG “hub” in each public institution in order to facilitate communication between them.
On engaging supreme audit institutions (SAIs), the compendium states that in the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development and the Chamber of Accounts signed an agreement to increase collaboration on control and oversight of public spending, including evaluating whether it contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. It also notes that Canada, in addition to releasing an audit on its preparedness to implement the SDGs, has aligned its Sustainable Development Strategy with the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions’ (INTOSAI) strategic plan, and has determined that it will consider the SDGs in all future performance audits.
On budgeting for the SDGs, the compendium indicates that Benin is developing an analytical tool to accurately assess the proportion of budgetary resources devoted to the achievement of the SDGs. Colombia has: developed multilevel planning and budgeting processes; aligned subnational budgets through the territorial development plans; and instituted common reporting formats. Also, Uruguay established a National Portal for Budget Transparency to facilitate citizen monitoring of SDG budget allocations, and it identifies the SDGs in the national budget programmatic areas.
The compendium was prepared based on countries’ 2018 VNRs presentations and reports, as well as complementary desk research. The 46 countries were also given the opportunity to review information related to them in the report.
The compendium complements other review reports that focused on the 2018 VNRs, including an independent assessment of the VNR reports and a sample of civil society reports prepared by a coalition of stakeholders, and a DESA synthesis of the 2018 VNR reports. [Publication: Compendium of National Institutional Arrangements for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: The 46 countries that presented voluntary national reviews at the high-level political forum in 2018] [Compendium of 2017 VNRs] [Compendium of 2016 VNRs]