April 2019: An e-consultation platform inviting Major Groups and other stakeholders to share their reflections and suggestions related to the organization and outcome of the SDG Summit 2019 has been incorporated as part of the Summit website. Contributions from stakeholders are expected to be summarized and shared with the co-facilitators of the Summit’s political declaration, as well as the facilitator for the modalities of the Summit.

In resolutions 67/290 and 70/299, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) agreed that every four years, the UN High-level Political Forum for Sustainable Development (HLPF) would meet under the auspices of the UNGA at the level of Heads of State and Government. The HLPF meeting under the UNGA, referred to as the ‘SDG Summit,’ will be the first summit-level meeting on the 2030 Agenda since its adoption in September 2015, and will take place from the afternoon of 24 September to 25 September 2019, coinciding with the Assembly 74th general debate.

The Summit will be chaired by UNGA President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces and result in a negotiated political declaration. To advance preparations for the Summit, Espinosa appointed the Permanent Representative of El Salvador to serve as facilitator for informal consultations on the organization of activities for the Summit, and the Permanent Representatives of Bahamas and Sweden as co-facilitators for the political declaration to be adopted at the Summit.

As noted on the e-consultation platform, the consultation seeks to be “as inclusive as possible,” and to profit from the knowledge, expertise and experience of a broad range of stakeholders. The platforms includes questions to help guide contributions of stakeholders. These questions relate to: key expectations for the Summit and ways stakeholders could best contribute to it; identification of the most important areas of progress and main gaps and challenges since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda; SDG best practices that could inspire others; three political messages that could be outlined during the Summit to accelerate implementation; and ways principles of leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest away first could be reflected in the Summit.

The platform notes that while making suggestions, stakeholders should bear in mind that the SDG Summit will last for only nine working hours, as it opens on the afternoon of 24 September, and the political declaration needs to be concise and appropriate for adoption by Heads of State and Government. Contributions are accepted until 31 May 2019 and should be submitted by using this form.

The SDG Summit will take place in addition to the yearly HLPF convened by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in July. The July 2019 session will take place from 9-18 July and consider the theme ‘Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality.’ [E-consultation platform] [SDG Knowledge Hub story on consultation meeting with MGOS on political declaration]