Foro Político de Alto Nivel sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

In 2021, the HLPF under the auspices of ECOSOC was held on 6–15 July under the theme “Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: Building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.

The 2021 HLPF included the thematic reviews of the following SDGs:

• Goal 1 – End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• Goal 2 – End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Goal 3 – Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
• Goal 8 – Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Goal 10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 12 – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Goal 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Goal 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Goal 17 – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

The voluntary national reviews were conducted by Member States. The HLPF adopted a Ministerial Declaration as the outcome of its session.

VNR Lab

A series of Voluntary National Review (VNR) Labs were convened on the margins of the  HLPF, to provide an informal platform for experience sharing and reflection on the Voluntary National Review process. UN Women organized a VNR lab titled “Path to equal: New measurement framework on gender equality and women's empowerment” on 15 July 2021, 8:00-9:00 AM EDT. The lab highlighted some of the findings from a new measurement framework produced by UN Women and UNDP and its relevance for the preparation of VNRs, as well as featured speakers from Member States. More information.

In preparation for the VNRs at the 2021 HLPF, UN Women, with the support of the Mission of Finland, organized a briefing for Member States on integrating a gender perspective in the VNRs. Read the summary.

Other events

• Roadmap to address the interlocking crises of care, jobs, and the environment to achieve the promise of the SDGs, 6 July 2021
• Building back fairer: Equality in a post-COVID world, 8 July 2021
• Country-led SDG evaluations: The missing piece of the jigsaw?, 9 July 2021

Resources

• Women and the SDGs
• Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot
• Report of the SG on progress towards the SDGs
• The Women Count Data hub
• COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker
• Europe and Central Asia Region working paper: Making labour market measures and economic systems work for women and vulnerable groups amid COVID-19, in emergencies, and building resilience against future shocks

In 2020, the HLPF under the auspices of ECOSOC held on 7–16 July under the theme “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.

Virtual consultations

As a contribution to the HLPF, UN Women co-convened with UN-DESA, ILO, UNRISD, and the World Bank a virtual consultation on “Responding to the economic shock, relaunching growth and sharing economic benefits and addressing developing countries’ financing challenges”. The background paper from the consultation was prepared as input for the corresponding thematic session during the HLPF (most closely related SDGs: SDG 5, SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 10, SDG 17), which took place on Wednesday, 8 July 2020.

UN Women also participated in the other virtual consultations on “Bolstering local action to control the pandemic and accelerate implementation” and “Protecting the planet and building resilience” in preparation for their corresponding HLPF thematic sessions.

Selected reference documents

• Women and the SDGs
• SDG key messages
• Policy briefs on macroeconomic policy and economic empowerment
• Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2019
• Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Gender equality: Women’s rights in review 25 years after Beijing
• Spotlight on gender, COVID-19 and the SDGs: Will the pandemic derail hard-won progress on gender equality?
• UN Secretary-General’s policy brief: The impact of COVID-19 on women
• Family-friendly policies and other good workplace practices in the context of COVID-19: Key steps employers can take
• World survey on the role of women in development 2019: Why addressing women’s income and time poverty matters for sustainable development
• Progress of the world’s women 2019–2020: Families in a changing world
• Progress of the world’s women 2015–2016: Transforming economies, realizing rights
• Fiscal space for social protection: A handbook for assessing financing options

In 2019, the HLPF under the auspices of ECOSOC was held on 9–18 July under the theme “Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”. The following SDGs were discussed in-depth:

• Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• Goal 8 – Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Goal 10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Goal 16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Goal 17 – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

UN Women drafted a set of two-pagers for the goals under review, which include facts and key messages for each of the goals.

For the first time since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015, the HLPF also met under the auspices of the General Assembly (SDG Summit) on 24 and 25 September 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Heads of State and Government gathered to follow up and comprehensively review progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Expert Group Meeting

As a contribution to the HLPF, UN Women, UNODC and the UNFCCC Secretariat, in collaboration with UNIDO, organized an expert group meeting on “Tackling global challenges to equality and inclusion through the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Spotlight on SDGs 10, 13 and 16”, on 27-28 February 2019 in Vienna.

• Concept note
• Report and recommendations

Selected reference documents

• Women and the SDGs
• SDG key messages
• Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Gender equality as an accelerator for achieving the SDGs
• Report of the Secretary-General on Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (Special Edition)
• Report of the Secretary-General on Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality
• Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2019
• Women’s Major Group Position Paper to the 2019 HLPF

In 2018, the HLPF was held 9–18 July under the theme of “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies”. The following SDGs were discussed in-depth:

• SDG 6 – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• SDG 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• SDG 11 – Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• SDG 12 –  Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• SDG 15 – Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• SDG 17 – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Expert Group Meeting

As a contribution to the HLPF, UN Women, UN Environment, and UN Habitat organized an expert group meeting on “Building sustainable and resilient societies through the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, on 5–6 June 2018 in Nairobi.

• Concept note
• Report and recommendations

Selected reference documents

• Women and the SDGs
• Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Towards a gender-responsive implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
• CSW 60 agreed conclusions on women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development
• Strategies to Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls through the Gender-responsive Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Readying institutions and policies for integrated approaches to implementation of the 2030 Agenda
• Report of the Secretary-General on Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
• Report of the Secretary-General. From global to local: supporting sustainable and resilient societies in urban and rural communities
• Input from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to the 2018 HLPF
• Input from the Commission on the Status of Women to the 2018 HLPF
• Input from the Women’s Major Group to the 2018 HLPF

In 2017, the HLPF will be held from 10 to 19 July under the theme of “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. The following set of SDGs will be discussed in-depth:

• SDG 1 – end poverty in all its forms everywhere
• SDG 2 – end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• SDG 3 – ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
• SDG 5 – achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• SDG 9 – build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• SDG 14 – conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• SDG 17 – strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

As a contribution to the HLPF’s in-depth review of SDG 5, UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) held an expert group meeting on “Strategies to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls through the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” on 30–31 May 2017 at UN headquarters in New York. See “Making the SDGs work for women: Experts meet at the UN ahead of High-Level Political Forum” for webcast videos, background documents and outcomes of the meeting.

Useful links and documents

• Report of the Expert Group Meeting
• 2017 HLPF thematic review of SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• Expert Group Meeting on SDG 5 (30–31 May 2017)
• Women and the SDGs