2017 Regional Preparatory Meetings for High-level Political Forum

The following dates and venues have been announced for the Regional Preparatory Meetings for the High-level Political Forum in 2017:

ESCAP: Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APSFD), 29-31 March 2017, Bangkok, Thailand

ECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD) 2017, 25 April 2017, Geneva, Switzerland

ECLAC: Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development (LAC RFSD), 26-28 April 2017, Mexico City

ECA Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD), 16-19 May, Venue to be decided

Background paper on Progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for WHO Executive Board Meeting

The 140th session of the Executive Board will have before it a background paper Progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, (EB140/32). Part I it explains how health can be transformed by, and play a transformative role in, achieving the 17 SDGs and Part II describes some of the ways in which the 2030 Agenda is reshaping WHO’s work at the country level, with coordination at regional and global levels...

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Report on the work for the review of progress towards the SDGs

Progress reports from the UN Secretary-General

The UN Secretary-General has issued a report on the work for the review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It describes the work carried out by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

Secretary-General’s first progress report and Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016

As stated in the report, insofar as the Secretary-General’s first progress report (E/2016/75) is based on data and storylines provided by agencies across the whole UN system, some targets are not reflected because of a lack of data or because their indicators are still undergoing methodological development…

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Report of the IAEG-SDGs for 48th Session of Statistical Commission

The Report of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), E/CN.3/2017/2, is now available on the UN Statistical Commission website. It gives an overview of the “global indicator framework for the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” presenting a proposal “for refinements of a selected group of indicators, a proposed schedule for revisions of the indicator framework and a mechanism for moving indicators from one tier to another.” There will also be a background document on the work plans for indicators classified as Tier III by the IAEG-SDGs…

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Latest information on the HLPF, July 2017

Lotta Tahtinen, DESA/DSD, briefed members of the NGO Major Group on the preparations for the High-level Political Forum (HLPF), to be held from 10-19 July. It will include a 5-day Expert-level segment, followed by 3-day Ministerial meeting. The theme will be Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world, and the following sustainable development goals will be examined in depth: SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 9, SDG 14 and SDG 17 (which is considered each year)... 

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Incoming Secretary-General appoints three women to key leadership positions

The incoming UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has appointed Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s environment minister and a key player in the development of the 2030 Agenda, as Deputy Secretary-General. He has also announced the appointments of two other women to key leadership posts.

Having made achieving gender parity at the world body a priority of his tenure, Guterres has appointed Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, a senior Brazilian foreign ministry official, to serve as his chief of staff, and Kyung-wha Kang of South Korea to the new position of special adviser on policy...

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World Data Forum, Cape Town, South Africa, 15 – 18 January 2017

The first UN World Data Forum will be held in Cape Town from 15 to 18 January 2017, hosted by Statistics South Africa, under the guidance of the UN Statistical Commission and the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The venue for the Forum is Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC).

The Opening Ceremony will take place on the evening of Sunday 15 January and the closing session will be on 18 January. Substantive sessions will be held from16 – 18 January and will cover the following areas:...

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Supporting SDGs – a strategic priority for new UN Secretary-General

As reported by IIED, when he was sworn in as the ninth UN Secretary-General during the UN General Assembly, António Guterres highlighted support for sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as one of three strategic priorities for change. The other two priorities are working for peace and advancing UN internal management...

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Apply to speak or attend: 24 January UN High-level Dialogue on "Building Sustainable Peace for All"

In recognition of the fundamental interlinkages between the 2030 Agenda and Sustaining Peace, the President of the General Assembly will convene a High-level Dialogue entitled "Building Sustainable Peace for All: Synergies between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustaining Peace Agenda" on 24 January 2017 at UN Headquarters in New York, with the participation of the President of the Security Council, the President of the Economic and Social Council, and the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission.

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NEW REPORT- Implementing the SDGs at National Level: Experiences and recommendations from 2016

Since the signing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) last year, countries have been getting to grips with this new, deeply ambitious agenda. The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July this year was the first chance to see what progress countries are making. Bond, UKSSD, Save the Children UK and WWF-UK commissioned a report that analysed the contributions to the HLPF. The report (attached) does the following:..

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