Diversity, continuity and, above all, trust – without these three ingredients, voluntary reviews of SDG progress are almost impossible to implement. This was the unanimous opinion of the panellists at an event initiated by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) in New York in July.
VNRs – Voluntary National Reviews – are a central review mechanism of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It encourages its member states to “conduct regular and inclusive reviews of progress at the national and subnational levels which are country-led and country-driven”. The VNRs serve as the basis for the annual reviews by the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which met in New York in July. The VNRs are intended to involve a large number of different stakeholders and thus build a bridge between state and non-state actors. A VNR will also be conducted in Germany for the third time next year. The current revision of the German Sustainable Development Strategy will form the basis for this.
During the HLPF, representatives of the Global Forum for National SDG Advisory Bodies met to share their knowledge and experience and to network with each other. What these organisations have in common is that they are committed to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and act in an advisory capacity for their respective governments – just as the RNE does in Germany. Another important task for these bodies: They should contribute to the VNR process.
Bringing in voices that are otherwise not heard
All of this prompted the RNE to initiate a VNR Lab as a hybrid event. Members of the Global Forum reported on their specific experiences in drawing up their VNRs and identified success factors. Moderated by RNE Secretary-General Marc-Oliver Pahl, the first report from the field came from Florence Syevuo, Executive Director of the SDGs Kenya Forum and Co-Chair of the Global Forum Steering Committee. The SDG Kenya Forum, a multistakeholder platform recognised by the government, has over 500 members, some of whom are networks themselves. Syevuo began by emphasising how important it was for the VNR process in her country, which has now been successfully completed for the third time, to involve society as a whole – in other words, to involve non-state actors in particular. She also emphasised the importance of available, reliable data in order to monitor the progress of the 2030 Agenda. Kenya has had good experiences in this area through its cooperation with the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics, with which a memorandum of understanding exists.
In her experience, a lot of communication is needed to involve as many people as possible: “We have to explain to local people what it’s all about,” said Syevuo. This is essential for inclusive engagement – but also a major challenge. It is a great advantage for the Kenyan SDG Forum that the platform is also continuously active beyond legislative periods. This helps to bring in voices that would otherwise not be heard. The diversity of the stakeholders gathered in the forum, who contribute different knowledge and skills, also contributes to this. The key element, however, is trust – both in the participants and in the process.
Participation processes can be undermined
Gabriela Suárez Buitrón, Executive Director of FARO Ecuador, also emphasised how important the subnational level – and reliable data about it – is. She used her example to show how important the attitude of the government and its willingness to engage in dialogue is for the success of the participation process: “Participation depends on the government.” This was not the case in Ecuador. There, the government recently drew up a VNR without really involve civil society in the process specially because the time to have the report ready was short. It became clear: If a participation process is not institutionalised, it can be undermined.
Carlos Applewhaite from the Sustainable Development Goals Secretariat of the Planning Institute of Jamaica brought the government perspective to the discussion. Following the first VNR in 2018, the country produced its second voluntary report two years ago. Using the example of a woman who is committed to clean water in her village, he made it clear that it is not absolutely necessary for individuals to know exactly what the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda are. But it is important that people understand what is worth campaigning for. This is why working on the ground in and with the community is so important.
Following the reports from the countries, Tom Harrison, part of the Global Forum Secretariat and Programme Director of The Partnering Initiative (TPI), presented a checklist that assesses the environment for multi-stakeholder engagement. This also included a government’s openness to the involvement of non-state actors in the VNR process.
A question of trust
RNE member Kai Niebert summarised that Germany could learn from the examples presented for its own VNR in the coming year that the involvement of civil society is a question of trust. Not providing insights into official reports for one’s own society is a no-go: “The SDGs can never be achieved by governments alone, but only by society as a whole, with the public and private sectors.” He concluded from this that not only the VNRs, but also the policies designed as part of the transformation must be discussed with society.
The combined commitment of interest groups could help to involve other citizens who had not previously come into contact with the SDGs. Not everyone needs to know about all the SDGs, said Niebert, but they should know how a contribution to one of the areas interacts with other areas.