The United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) was established as an outcome of Rio+20 and has a central role in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the global level. It is the main UN platform on sustainable development, facilitating the sharing of experiences and providing political leadership, guidance and recommendations. The HLPF replaced the former Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), and it is mandated to take place every year under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and every four years at the level of Heads of State and Government under the auspices of the General Assembly.

The HLPF has a thematic component to review specific areas and goals, and allows UN Member States to present their progress reports. Each year, the HLPF considers a given theme and a connected set of goals, as follows:

• 2017: Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world, focusing on the specific Goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 14 and 17;
• 2018: Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies, focusing on the specific Goals 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 and 17;
• 2019: Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality, focusing on the specific Goals 4, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17;

The meetings of the HLPF are informed by an annual progress report on the Sustainable Development Goals, the quadrennial Global Sustainable Development Report, and input from UN Agencies, Regional Commissions, Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS), among others.

2019 HLPF

In 2019, the UN will assess the 2030 Agenda’s first four-year cycle and will present the first global quadrennial report on the SDGs.

The 2019 HLPF will be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 18 July 2019, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It will conduct the annual review of the thematic SDGs and the ministerial meeting with presentation of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). The outcome will be the ECOSOC President’s summary of the Forum, rather than a Ministerial Declaration.

The SDG Summit will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 24 and 25 September 2019, under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It will assess areas where progress is insufficient to meet the Goals on time, and what can be done to catalyse it. The outcome will be a Political Declaration of Heads of State and Government giving political guidance on how to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.

Regions4 at the 2019 HLPF

Regions4 has actively participated in all previous meetings of the HLPF, contributing to the thematic discussions on areas addressed by the SDGs, and bringing reports on regional governments’ SDGs localisation. Regions4 and its members will attend the 2019 HLPF and SDG Summit to share experiences, commitments and achievements.

As organising partner of the Local Authorities Major Group, Regions4 seeks to further enhance the consultative role and participation of the MGoS at the global level, intervening in official meetings, making recommendations, and presenting written and oral contributions.

This year, Regions4 is collaborating on the third Global Taskforce report on the role of local and regional governments in the localisation of the SDGs, and will organise a side event on this topic during the HLPF. Particularly, it will bring experiences on multi-level governance towards the SDGs implementation and showcase the voluntary review reporting processes that several regions are preparing. Other events co-organised with strategic partners are being discussed. For the SDG Summit in September, Regions4, as member of the GTF, is collaborating on the organisation of the second edition of the Local and Regional Governments’ Forum (LRG Forum), particularly with the goal of ensuring a territorial perspective on the localisation process and the voice and messages of regional governments are heard.