The high-level political forum (HLPF) will take place from 11-20 July at the UN and with the theme “leave no one behind” will look at all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The modalities for the HLPF are set out in 67/290. There will be a five-day expert level session with interactive roundtables and town hall meetings, followed by a three-day ministerial meeting.
Registration is open on the CSO Net until 10 June. So far 1100 individuals registered, twice the number of those registered in CSD sessions. CSOs with grounds passes should also register even if the have passes. This is to give better idea of numbers...
The session will feature voluntary reports by 22 countries on implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs. It is expected that the reports will be discussed in the ministerial segment by ministers. The “volunteer countries” have met three times over the spring, with Major Groups and other Stakeholders participating in two of the three meetings. The overall sense is that the 22 presentations will focus on steps taken so far at the national level, as well as sharing best practices and lessons learned. Countries are not in a position to report on progress per se. For each country, which are listed on the HLPF website, there is a national level focal point.
The programme for the HLPF has not yet been released. The concept note with mandates is available. Reactions from MGoS have been shared with ECOSOC President. Following today’s meeting with him, it is hoped that he will soon release the programme.
In addition to the thematic roundtables and town halls, it is expected that there will be a dedicated session on MGoS. She suggested that the MGoS should work with the HLPF Steering Group to decide how it should be structured. It will be a three-hour interactive discussion session. A task team should be created to work on this session. It is also expected that a number of expert speakers from MGoS will be included in the round tables and MGoS should also be able to take the floor in Q & As. There will be an overflow room for the sessions which will also be webcast.
The HLPF will feature a number of parallel learning events, side events with a Partnerships Exchange forum running parallel on 18 July and a Business Forum on 19 July.
160 requests have been received for side events and they are looking at how to accommodate as many as possible. They ate trying to condense the number and will be informing those approved early next week. There is space for about 80. The schedule is to be announced and the side events are separate from the learning events.
Using funding from the European Commission, 20 MGoS are being funded to come to the HLPF. Over 240 applications were received. DESA worked with the Steering Group to select 20. They are also working with the Steering Group to identify expert group speakers. This is very challenging insofar as there is no programme yet. It is hoped that there will be panelists from MGoS in addition to the 20 individuals.
The Permanent Representatives of Australia and Peru have been appointed co-facilitators for the work on the Ministerial Declaration (See: ECOSOC President appoints Co-facilitators for negotiations on HLPF ministerial declaration). The co-facilitators will determine whether Declaration will be open to MGoS – the process is meant to be transparent.
Documentation is being posted on the website. It will include discussion papers from Stakeholders E/HLPF2016/2 and a progress report on the SDGs from Statistical Division. There will also be reports from the 22 volunteering countries – they have been asked to submit 3-page summaries on preparations and reports and they will be posted under the relevant countries. More comprehensive reports will be available closer to time of the HLPF. There is also a HLPF blog, for which over 30 submissions.
MGoS, in addition to working on the interactive session should also consider whether they want to have morning sessions with the ECOSOC President and also whether they wish morning caucus meetings.