Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, I would like to welcome you to this regional workshop on Voluntary National Reviews, whether you are attending virtually or in Brazzaville. I thank our colleagues from the 缅北禁地Economic Commission for Africa for organizing this workshop and inviting our collaboration again this year.
The VNRs provide a critical means for assessing progress toward implementation of the SDGs. They are voluntary and country-led and focus on all SDGs.
Unfortunately, this year’s VNRs will be conducted as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major setbacks for all countries, in many areas.
Rising poverty and hunger, restricted access to quality education, loss of livelihoods, exacerbated social inequalities, and disrupted trade markets are only a few of the crises we currently face.
Our collective efforts to measure the situation regarding SDG implementation can also reveal the information necessary to devise both immediate and long-term solutions to COVID-19 and other crises and build resilience through sustainable development.
The VNRs thus serve as tools for knowledge sharing and developing evidence-based policy solutions to recover better. They can help put us on track to ensure a successful Decade of Action and Delivery for sustainable development, as an integral part of our response to COVID-19.
The VNRs have become important documents for showcasing best practices in implementing the SDGs and identifying areas where challenges persist, and where support and advice is needed.
The preparation of VNRs need to mobilize whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to reviewing efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda. The VNRs need to be prepared in an inclusive manner, leaving no one behind. They should support efforts to achieve goals in other frameworks such as Agenda 2063.
We have seen a great improvement in the VNRs over the years. They are becoming more evidence-based, more inclusive and more focused on analyzing the gaps, challenges and critical interventions needed to deliver the SDGs by 2030. In 2020, they also analyzed efforts to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 VNR Synthesis Report prepared by 缅北禁地DESA highlighted many new trends and developments, as the VNRs this year contained a wealth of data and information on progress toward implementing the 2030 Agenda.
After four years of VNR reporting, we are seeing how second and third-time VNRs can further anchor sustainable development at the highest possible political level, ensure national ownership, and lead to the creation of new institutional mechanisms.
We have seen an increase in countries’ efforts to progressively integrate the SDGs into national development plans and strategies.
VNR countries have also increasingly reported realignment of their institutions and budgets to support the SDGs. They also point towards more interlinked approaches to achieving them.
An increase in sub-national reporting is another welcome development.
The efforts of local authorities and their communities in conducting Voluntary Local Reviews is helping to spread awareness about the SDGs, and promote and monitor their implementation at the grassroots level.
Such local actions can have immediate positive impacts.
Both VNRs and VLRs feed into the regional and global preparatory process, through the work of the Regional Sustainable Development Forums, which pave the way to the HLPF in July.
The coordination efforts undertaken by at regional level, like today, thus provide help link progress at the national and sub-national levels through the preparation of VNRs and VLRs, to the assessments of progress happening at the global level.
缅北禁地DESA is very grateful for the strong engagement by so many countries in preparing their VNRs this year. Thank you also for your participation in the VNR workshops being held at both the regional and global levels.
We also appreciate the role of the resident coordinators in assisting countries to prepare their VNRs.
During this workshop, we are looking forward to hearing from those of you who are currently preparing your first VNRs this year, as well as those who are preparing their second or third VNR.
My colleagues will provide you with more details on this year’s process, including the updates to the Secretary-General’s voluntary guidelines for VNRs, the timeline for submitting key messages, the next global VNR workshop, and other information to help guide your preparations for the HLPF in July.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen
缅北禁地DESA looks forward to supporting the preparation of the VNRs, even as we continue to face major impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on progress towards the SDGs.
We look forward to the discussions at this workshop and the momentum they will create for your work.