April 2019: A report released by the National Audit Chamber of Sudan on the country’s preparedness to implement the SDGs outlines progress and issues related to the country’s institutional framework and its monitoring and funding mechanisms, among other components of its preparedness.

The ‘Report on the preparedness of the Republic of Sudan to Implement the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030’ indicates that a national mechanism for overseeing the SDGs, chaired by the Vice-President of the Republic and comprising a number of ministers and under-secretaries, has not performed adequately. Among the mechanism’s shortfalls, the report notes that at the time of the audit: it had held only four brainstorming meetings within the 19 months of its establishment and had no clear programme of action; and it had not issued a decision to establish a national mechanism to oversee the SDGs at the state (sub-national) level.

Per the report, the audit also found that the National Population Council, which is mandated to serve as a rapporteur for the national mechanism and follow-up on implementation, had delivered many of its entrusted tasks. For instance, the report notes that the Council established a 47-member national team to assist in developing a plan for SDG implementation, engaged in developing periodic national reports, and promoted capacity building at the sub-national level. However, the audit found that a clear programme of action to implement the Goals was lacking.

On monitoring of progress and statistics, the audit revealed that: periodic progress reports on SDG implementation had been provided by “executive units” and monitored by the National Population Council; indicators and baselines had not been aligned with the SDGs; there was a severe lack of indicator data on some Goals; and the Central Bureau of Statistics had planned to establish statistical units in all sectors and ministries for the production and use of statistical data, but the number of units was insufficient. On funding, the report identifies a lack of arrangements at the level of the federal finance ministry to fund SDG implementation.

The report lists recommendations to address issues identified during the audit. Those include:

• Strengthening the role of the national mechanism in overseeing SDG implementation;
• Establishing a national mechanism to lead on “state level” SDG implementation;
• Developing a clear SDG programme of action;
• Aligning indicators with SDG indicators; and
• Upgrading the Central Bureau of Statistics to ensure that it meets all data requirements.

Sudan presented its voluntary national review (VNR) of progress in SDGs implementation during the 2018 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). According to a summary of the Forum’s discussion by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), NGOs in Sudan have been engaged in implementation, awareness raising, capacity building, advocacy and data collection for the SDGs, and the Parliament has committed to implement the SDGs through a framework of legislation and forward-looking strategies. [Publication: Sudan National Audit Chamber (NAC): A Report on the preparedness of the Republic of Sudan to Implement the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030]

This story reviews one of the audit reports and activities produced by individual SAIs on the SDGs, as identified by INTOSAI as of April 2019. For more information about SAIs, click here.