The President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has invited inputs from UN bodies to inform discussions at the next session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) on the theme, ‘Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.’

In her letter of 14 January 2020, ECOSOC President Mona Juul recalls that at the SDG Summit in September 2019, heads of state and government adopted a political declaration that “proclaimed a decade for action and delivery for sustainable development and outlined ten cross-cutting areas for accelerated action for the achievement of the SDGs.” She explains that the July 2020 session will follow up on this declaration, focusing on areas to accelerate action and delivery at all levels in advancing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

She invites the functional commissions of ECOSOC and other intergovernmental bodies and fora to:

• Highlight their views on “how best to accelerate action and achieve transformative pathways” to realize the decade of action and delivery;
• Focus on their area of responsibility while reflecting linkages with other SDGs and targets;
• Highlight their own contributions to SDG progress; and
• Identify four or five action recommendations that the HLPF could include in its ministerial declaration.

Example actions are provided in an annex to Juul’s letter.

A suggested outline for the submission is provided in an annex. Inputs are requested by 16 March 2020, and a synthesis of inputs will be an official document of the HLPF.

HLPF will take place from 7-16 July 2020, in New York, US, including the three-day ministerial segment from 14-16 July. In addition to the thematic review, the Forum will also hear the voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of 51 countries, taking place from 13-16 July. [Letter from ECOSOC President] [HLPF 2020 website]