Next Steps on Global Follow-up and Review… General Assembly informal meeting

UN officials presented the advance report of the UN Secretary-General on the global follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ‘Critical Milestones Towards Coherent, Efficient and Inclusive Follow-Up and Review at the Global Level,'  to an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly. (See: Report of the Secretary-General on critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level)  

Government delegations provided preliminary reactions to the report and views on the way forward, with many describing the report as a “good basis” for further discussions on the follow-up and review framework.

Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, presented highlights of the report, noting that it seeks to "stimulate debate and provide options," rather than providing definitive answers. The report indicates how the HLPF could best work to "deliver on its role as central review platform." It outlines two options for the focus of the thematic reviews of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the HLPF: reviewing “all Goals at the same time through the prism of a single transversal theme;” or “looking at all the Goals through one transversal theme, and then to review a small number of Goals, Goal by Goal.” Wu noted the importance of: science and data, the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) and the UN Secretary General’s SDG Progress Report to inform discussions at the HLPF; and inclusiveness of the reviews and partnerships.

Jan Eliasson, UN Deputy Secretary-General, referred to the four factors identified in the report that will determine the success of the 2030 Agenda: leadership of governments and other development actors; ownership; partnership (including public, public-private and private sector and civil society partnerships); and collaboration between the UN System and Member States.

Many governments urged transparency and inclusiveness in the review process, while calling for protecting the "indivisible nature" of the SDGs by avoiding siloed approaches.

Delegations, such as the EU, Liechtenstein, Kenya, Japan and Norway, said the report does not adequately articulate the link between the follow-up of the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on financing for development. For some the AAAA is an integral part of the Agenda, and an integrated follow-up and review of the of 2030 Agenda and the AAAA is therefore necessary. Canada, Australia, Liechtenstein and others supported holding the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up (FfD Forum) back-to-back with the HLPF, while the EU called for a clear division of labour between the FfD Forum and the HLPF.

South Africa highlighted the importance of “proper indicators” for follow-up and review, and for openness, transparency and inclusiveness. Together with Kenya, he noted the need for capacity building at the national level to speed up implementation. The US said that the GSDR is not addressed fully in the report, calling for clarifying ways to restructure the UN Secretariat to better support the follow-up and review process. He suggested, inter alia, that the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs' (DESA) Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination (OESC) could be merged with the Division for Sustainable Development (DSD).

Belize for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Bangladesh for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) noted that matters related to  small island developing States (SIDS) should be discussed as part of the HLPF, rather than in a separate forum held prior to the HLPF as outlined in the report. The Maldives for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said there should be a dedicated space for the SIDS at the HLPF, under a format to be decided in close consultation with SIDS. They also did not support the mentioning  of “peer reviews,” as it is a sensitive issue and which had already been debated during negotiations on the 2030 Agenda. Argentina said the peer review should not to be confused with "peer learning."

Some delegations highlighted the need for consistency between the themes of the HLPF and the other ECOSOC fora, with Canada, Australia and others proposing to use the same theme across key events. The US said the HLPF theme should not be overly broad or vague, and should be “cross-cutting.” Liechtenstein supported the idea of a four-year work plan on the HLPF and Switzerland pointed to the need to have the reviews' themes decided for the four years that follow the meetings of the HLPF under the auspices of the UNGA.

Switzerland also said that selecting a number of Goals to be reviewed every year would allow for integrated reviews, as linkages can been made between any of the 17 Goals. She cautioned against considering all 17 SDGs every year, insofar as it would inhibit focus and make it difficult to attract national officials. Liechtenstein and others said 2016 is not yet the time to consider “clustering" of SDGs for review, while Peru expressed a preference for comprehensively reviewing progress on all 17 SDGs.

Norway said 2016 is too early for a “full and meaningful review” of the Agenda and of the SDGs, but highlighted the need to make the 2016 HLPF a success and attractive to officials. The US said speakers at the HLPF should be selected based on their expertise and their ability to convey clear messages, and come from a range of backgrounds including government, academia, civil society and the private sector.

On the process for moving forward, Thailand for the Group of 77 and China (G-77/China) proposed establishing an intergovernmental process to discuss the operationalization of follow-up and review “at the earliest opportunity." On  the other hand, the EU cautioned against lengthy negotiations and prolonged discussions. For Pakistan the “big picture” on follow-up and review remains unclear, noting a need for significant work before agreeing on a coherent framework. Argentina hoped that intergovernmental negotiations on follow-up and review will begin as soon as possible and Japan suggested starting with a discussion of "urgently needed" priorities.

Delegations also welcomed the appointment of David Nabarro, Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,(See: UN Secretary-General appoints Special Adviser on 2030 Agenda) who succeeds Amina Mohammed, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser for Post-2015 Development Planning.

According to the President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, clarity is needed on: how the HLPF theme relates to the ECOSOC themes; how national reviews will be conducted at the global level; how best to give attention to countries in special situations at the HLPF; and the possibility of holding a “short set of negotiations” focusing on key issues “well in advance of the HLPF.” He stressed the need to avoid duplication between consultations related to the HLPF, including the ones on the FfD Forum, and on the GSDR. He announced that the General Committee of the UNGA will discuss points raised during the meeting, and that he will provide more information on next steps "in the next few weeks."

The above posting is based on the report by IISD. See also: http://sd.iisd.org/news/member-states-discuss-next-steps-on-global-follow-up-and-review/