The International Forum on National Sustainable Development Strategies (NSDSs) took place from 7-9 November 2001 in Accra, Ghana.

The Forum was convened by the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), in collaboration with the Government of Ghana, Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK, the Danish Government and the UNDP/Capacity 21 programme, as part of the ongoing preparatory process for the WSSD. Seventy-three participants from 31 countries drawn from government, civil society, the private sector and international agencies participated in the Forum.
The purpose of the meeting was to debate lessons learned and best practices in NSDSs at the international level, improve understanding amongst participants, and recommend approaches that are relevant and likely to be effective in the foreseeable future. Among the topics considered were key principles and characteristics of sound NSDSs, countries’ experiences in implementing already existing national frameworks for NSDSs, stakeholder experiences with NSDSs, the assessment of effective processes for NSDSs, and the strengthening of capacity for NSDS processes. Participants also deliberated on national and regional follow-up actions and discussed recommendations and conclusions for presentation at WSSD preparatory meetings.
The meeting’s outputs consisted of the Draft Report of the Forum with country reports annexed, a draft of the UN document on guidance for preparing NSDSs, suggestions for key national and regional actions, and a draft of the document on development of criteria to assess the effectiveness of NSDSs. The Sustainable Developments report outlining these discussions in detail can be found at: http://enb.iisd.org/linkages/sd/nsds/