The regional review of the 2030 Agenda
The UN regional commissions have organised 5 Regional Forums on Sustainable Development throughout March in preparation for the 2021 session of the High-level Political Forum to be held in July.
These events will offer a multi-stakeholder platform for the review of the progress of the 2030 Agenda at regional level and provide an opportunity for subnational governments and other non-state actors to contribute to the preparations of the upcoming HLPF. The focus will be a sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, that promotes the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
The 7th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development took place on 1-4 March and endorsed the Brazzaville Declaration calling on African governments to develop new economic models to protect natural resources, promote renewable energy, and foster green and resilient infrastructure and inclusive digitalization.
The final report of ARFSD 7 includes an agreement that countries should draw on lessons from past completed VNRs when engaging in their second, third, and fourth VNRs; and it urges the UN System to strengthen the capacity of Member States to produce VNRs that integrate VLRs.
An important milestone for local and regional governments was the launch of the African VLR Guideline and Template to be launched in Spring 2021. By 2020, Africa had 9 VLRs produced and this number is expected to grow in 2021.
A full coverage of the ARFSD 7 can be found at IISD, and more information is available at the ECA press release and the Forum Bulletin.
The other sessions organised by the regional commissions will be held as follows:
- Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region, 11-16 March
- Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Forum for Sustainable Development, 15-18 March
- Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, 23-26 March
- Arab Regional Forum for Sustainable Development, 29-21 March
Further information
The outcomes on the 5 fora will be available at the UN regional commissions websites.
To learn about Regions4’s recommendation for an increased multilevel governance at the HLPF, please click here.
To find out more about Regions4’s work on SDGs localisation and advocacy, please click here.
