13 July 2018: On Friday, 13 July 2018, on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the Global Policy Forum, Social Watch, Alliance Sud and the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) organized an event focused on Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) and parallel “shadow” or “spotlight” reports generated by civil society organizations (CSOs) on progress towards achieving the SDGs.

During the event titled, ‘National-level SDG Implementation: What’s the Point of National Reports?’ Mark Herkenrath, Alliance Sud, described efforts to create a joint report, organized thematically, with input from different sectors of civil society, and a joint chapter writing exercise with the private sector, noting CSO involvement in the VNR process does not preclude a separate spotlight report.

Participants called for inclusion of children and youth as contributors to CSO reviews.

Rene Raja, Social Watch, noted that the Philippines will present its second VNR in 2019, and highlighted spotlight report aspects, including on how to establish baselines for the SDGs.

Speakers also emphasized: a CSO spotlight report concluding that Brazil is going backwards on all the SDGs; the Committee on Development Policy’s work on review of the SDGs, which aims to encourage governments to step up their efforts; and the need for a data acceptance mechanism to expand the ability to include data from non-traditional sources.

During the discussion, participants highlighted, inter alia, inclusion of children and youth as contributors to CSO reviews, private sector involvement in the review process and challenges when private sector demands are inconsistent with attainment of the SDGs. [IISD RS Coverage of Side Event on National-level SDG Implementation and National Reports] [Global Policy Forum Website] [Alliance Sud Website] [Social Watch Website]