Elements for 2030 Agenda follow-up from co-facilitators

The President of the UN General Assembly has circulated the proposals from the co-facilitators of intergovernmental consultations on follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, outlining elements for a draft General Assembly resolution. There will be further consultations on the elements paper among Member States and stakeholders on 28 April 2016. 

The co-facilitators Lois Young (Belize) and Ib Petersen (Denmark) are proposing elements of a resolution on the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda at the global level. It addresses "the most critical issues, as seen by Member States" on the follow-up and review framework.

As reported by IISD, the paper is organized by "elements" and "convergence of opinions" around each one. The elements include: Framing the resolution; SG's report; Themes; National reviews; Regional review; Countries in special situations; Participation; Non-UN entities; Facilitating input to the HLPF; Coherence; Role of Secretariat; Output; and Way forward.

The elements paper poses questions as to whether the resolution should specify certain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for more in-depth review, apart from a general review of all 17 Goals; and whether the HLPF should review Goal 17 (means of implementation) annually. 

They also ask whether the UN regional commissions should be invited to prepare a common format for conveying the results of the regional forums on sustainable development to the HLPF, and whether the functional commissions should also be called on to ensure that their working methods and agendas address the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. On coherence with regard to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), they ask whether the resolution should clarify the difference between the HLPF held under the auspices of ECOSOC, and the HLPF held under the auspices of the UNGA, and whether there should be two sessions of the HLPF in 2019, when the HLPF will meet under the General Assembly.

The paper proposes that the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) align its annual themes with the corresponding themes of the HLPF, and that the ECOSOC President be invited to prepare a summary of the HLPF discussions, including of the national reviews. It also proposes that Member States should take part in voluntary reviews at the HLPF at least twice before 2030, ensuring that they include developed and developing countries in line with equitable geographic representation, also including countries in special situations.

The UN system is requested to support developing countries in conducting reviews at the HLPF, through capacity building and strengthening the capacity of national statistical offices and data systems. The paper recommends that the UN Secretary-General be asked to review the organization of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) to ensure it can provide effective support to the HLPF.

On participation they say that the resolution could reaffirm that the forum shall be open to the major groups, other relevant stakeholders and entities having received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the General Assembly. It could encourage consideration of innovative ways of facilitating participation of stakeholders from developing countries, including through web-based interfaces, in the high-level political forum. And, it could reiterate the call to major groups and other stakeholders to report on their contributions to the implementation of the Agenda and further encourage the private sector and civil society to inform the United Nations of their commitments to implement the Sustainable Development Goals as part of their contribution to follow-up and review. 

IISD says that the paper was prepared following an expert-level brainstorming session, informal consultations with Major Groups and other Stakeholders and informal consultations with UN Member States. In those discussions, some warned against turning an informal sharing of experiences into an accountability process. Several agreed that the HLPF, the SDGs thematic review and the ECOSOC session should address the same theme in any given year, and that all 17 SDGs should be treated equally. Governments differed on whether to focus on a selected number of Goals each year, or to review all of them at each HLPF session, as to avoid a silo approach.

The letter from co-facilitators is available here.

See also: http://sd.iisd.org/news/co-facilitators-propose-elements-for-2030-agenda-follow-up/