Progressing national SDGs implementation 2020

Following commitments by heads of state and government around the world to a Decade of Action and Delivery to realise the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2019, 2020 saw the growth of an unprecedented global pandemic.

In early 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) quickly spread around the world, leading to devastating health impacts. Containment measures negatively impacted decades of economic and social progress with some governments harnessing the pandemic response as an opportunity to further close civic space.

The need for governments to accelerate the 2030 Agenda has become more urgent in the context of a global response to COVID-19 with the 2030 Agenda’s transformative principles remaining critical to ensure a participatory, just, equitable and sustainable recovery that ensures no one is left behind and harnesses lessons from the pandemic.

For the past five years, civil society organizations have reviewed reporting by governments to the United Nations’ High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The Voluntary National Review (VNR) reports submitted by governments as part of the follow-up and review processes indicate the status of 2030 Agenda implementation at the national level. VNR reports are meant to be prepared through inclusive and participatory processes, serve as a source of information on good practices, lessons learned and challenges in implementation and provide a basis for peer learning and accountability at the global level.

The review of the 47 VNR reports submitted to the HLPF in 2020 revealed a range of good practices and both positive and concerning trends in implementation and reporting.

The Progressing National SDGs Implementation report covers all aspects of 2030 Agenda implementation through an examination of governance, institutional arrangements and stakeholder engagement, policies, the means of implementation and reporting. Key findings, good practice case studies, emerging best practices and recommendations are presented throughout the report. The full sets of good practices spotlights and of recommendations are consolidated at the end of the report. You can also read the briefings below.

Briefings

• Gender policy briefing
• Leave No One Behind policy briefing
• Covid-19 policy briefing
• Civic space policy briefing
• Report executive summary