The co-facilitators of the negotiations on the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of the 2025 session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) shared a paper outlining a proposed structure of and elements for inclusion in the Declaration. They also circulated an indicative timeline for future meetings.

In a letter dated 14 March 2025, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic Jakub Kulhánek and Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Inga Rhonda King indicate that the elements paper is based on the interventions made during the first informal consultation on 6 March and further inputs, with the goal for the Declaration to be concise, focused, and action oriented.

The four-page elements paper outlines the main current trends, challenges, and their impacts on accelerating the implementation of the SDGs and contains elements relevant to the Goals undergoing in-depth review this year – 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). It also includes elements pertaining to voluntary national reviews (VNRs).

Thirty-seven countries will present 2025 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, 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 Sudan, Suriname, and Thailand. 

According to the co-facilitators’ indicative timeline, the second informal consultation convened on 27 March to discuss the elements paper and invite written comments. The zero draft of the Declaration is expected to be made available 14 April. The third informal consultation is planned for 5 May, with the revised draft of the declaration to follow 13 May.

The fourth informal consultation for reading the revised draft is expected to take place the last week of May. Consultations will continue in June with a view to placing the draft ministerial declaration under the silence procedure before the end of the month.

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,’ HLPF 2025 will take place from 14-23 July, convening from 14-18 July under the auspices of the ECOSOC, followed by a three-day ministerial segment of the HLPF, from 21-23 July. [HLPF 2025 Outcomes] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on HLPF 2025 Draft Programme]