The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ (DESA) Division for Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Oslo Governance Centre have produced an analytical framework for examining the quality of stakeholder engagement practices related to the SDGs and 2030 Agenda. During a launch event, officials said the tool was developed in the belief that “our societies are stronger when people can contribute to decisions that affect their lives.”

The authors of the framework recall that the 2030 Agenda envisions an important role for stakeholders in “holding governments accountable for their actions or lack thereof.” The framework is presented in a publication titled, ‘What is a ‘Good Practice’? A Framework to Analyse the Quality of Stakeholder Engagement in Implementation and Follow-up of the 2030 Agenda,’ which was launched on 26 January 2021.

The framework uses three principles of quality stakeholder engagement, with two dimensions specified for each: inclusion (non-discrimination and accessibility); participation (access to information for engagement and influencing decision-making); and accountability (transparency and responsiveness). Each dimension can be assessed on a continuum of four levels of effort.

The publication includes key findings from testing the framework in five countries: Benin, Finland, Jordan, Jamaica, and Timor-Leste. It ends with a user guide to applying the framework, including tips and checklists.

Speaking at the event to launch the framework, Haoliang Xu, UNDP, said the framework is a tool for “empowering stakeholders and creating space to question the status quo, to challenge prevailing assumptions and to envision transformation.” [Publication: What is a ‘Good Practice’? A Framework to Analyse the Quality of Stakeholder Engagement in Implementation and Follow-up of the 2030 Agenda] [UNDP remarks]