Nearly two years after adopting the Sustainable Development Goals amidst much fanfare, governments returned to the United Nations in July for a 'high level political forum' to review their implementation efforts and assess progress. Forty-three countries, including ten from Asia-Pacific, presented 'Voluntary National Reviews' (VNRs), which more than 2500 civil society advocates critiqued their work.
The civil society coalition, Action for Sustainable Development, has noted five key trends:
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- The commitment to 'Leave No One Behind' - a centrepiece of the SDGs - received little emphasis from the countries presenting voluntary reports.
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- Civil society rights are being violated in a majority of UN member states, limiting the capacity of citizens and community organisations to assist with the implementation of the goals;
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- The relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement needs to be further incorporated into the reporting framework of the High Level Political Forum;
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- The United Nations needs to do more to compare national progress reports between member states and related independent assessments from civil society;
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- Civil society should have, but often lacks, a formal role in goal implementation and monitoring.
You can read the full statement, as well as find links to government VNRs and civil society shadow reports on the SDG progress, on the Action4SD website.
(Parts of the article above originally appeared in correspondence from the secretariat of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty to its constituents and supporters.)