The UN system, Member States, and stakeholders are moving ahead with preparations for the July 2022 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The 2022 HLPF will convene from 5-15 July under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with a thematic focus on building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic “while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

As of 6 June, the new HLPF website has the latest updates.

The annotated programme of work for the session, dated 3 June, is available as a PDF document and in an interactive, day-by-day format. This latest programme provides background on each session, speakers, and proposed guiding questions.

In addition to the official programme, the HLPF Secretariat has released the details on seven special events taking place during the Forum:

• SDGs Learning, Training, and Practice (5-7 and 11-12 July);
• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (6 July);
• Parliamentary Forum (13 July);
• Chief Sustainability Officers for the SDGs (13 July);
• Higher Education Sustainability Initiative’s HESI+10 Global Forum (6 July);
• Local and Regional Governments Forum (7 and 12 July); and
• SDG 6 Special Event (13 July).

The HLPF Secretariat reviewed 386 side event submissions. A tentative programme of side events, dated 27 June, is available here. 

The 2022 VNR Labs will have the collective theme, ‘Keeping the Compass on the SDGs.’ The VNR Labs convene on the sidelines of the HLPF to provide “an informal platform for experience sharing and reflection” on the voluntary national review (VNR) process. They take place under Chatham House rules.

The latest Information Note on the arrangements for the 2022 HLPF and the ECOSOC High-level Segment provides details on the format, venue, participation, and logistics. The 14 June document will be updated as needed.

The governments that will present VNRs of SDG implementation during the 2022 HLPF have released the main messages of their reports. Read about the 2022 VNR countries here and here.

At the conclusion of the HLPF, governments will take action to adopt a ministerial declaration. The co-facilitators for the negotiations – Italy and Nauru – released a second revised draft of the declaration on 27 May, and conducted informal consultations to discuss it on 10 June. Read about the first revision draft of 6 May here.

The Major Groups have submitted position papers on the theme of the 2022 session. Their executive summaries are compiled in a preparatory document. The contributors are “major groups and other relevant stakeholders that have autonomously established and maintained effective coordination mechanisms for participation” in the HLPF. They include: Women; Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs); Local Authorities; Workers and Trade Unions; Education and Academia; Business and Industry; Persons with Disabilities; Volunteers; the Ageing; and the Scientific and Technological Community. Other stakeholders whose position papers are summarized in the preparatory document are: Asia-Pacific Regional Civil Society Organization (CSO) Engagement; the Africa Regional Mechanism for Major Groups and Other Stakeholders; Communities Discriminated by Work and Descent; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons; Financing for Development (FfD); and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

The functional commissions of ECOSOC have also submitted input on the theme of the session, discussing their contributions to implementing the 2030 Agenda. Another input to the HLPF session is a compilation of reports from the UN’s regional commissions. The submissions present summaries of the 2022 regional forums on sustainable development (RFSDs) that took place in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Arab Region, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Other inputs include the UN Secretary-General’s SDG Progress Report and a report on the 2022 annual theme of ECOSOC and the HLPF, ‘Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’ [SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of HLPF 2022]