UN Paper Shares Perspectives on Evidence-based Solutions for SDGs
The UN Secretariat has issued a paper that examines governance and institutional perspectives on advancing sustainable, inclusive, science-, and evidence-based solutions for the SDGs. The report considers measures that can accelerate progress towards the SDGs in key transition areas across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, while building on the interlinkages between the Goals and targets.
Dated 27 January 2025, the paper (E/C.16/2025/2) will inform deliberations on institutional aspects of the theme of the 2025 sessions of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development during the 24th session of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), meeting from 7-11 April. It is intended to serve as the basis of a contribution to the ECOSOC/HLPF high-level segment.
The paper presents a “pentagram of action to reinforce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” based on five transformative actions to accelerate SDG implementation:
- Prioritization of and planning for implementation of the Goals;
- Budgeting for the Goals;
- A competent and capable public sector workforce;
- Effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels; and
- Broad participation and partnerships with stakeholders.
The report provides recommendations and key messages for potential inclusion in the 2025 ECOSOC/HLPF ministerial declaration. It calls for an urgent shift towards comprehensive systems thinking, to enable governments to stay the course of SDG implementation as the world struggles with “polycrises,” geopolitical tensions, conflicts, and declining trust in government, among other challenges. Governments’ current approaches to implementation, it argues, should reflect strengthened governance and institutional resilience and emphasize equity, sustainability, and solidarity.
Highlighting the decline of multilateralism and growing disrespect of international law as “roadblocks to partnerships in the search for international solutions,” the report calls for a revival of and return to cooperative frameworks to mitigate the loss of policy coherence and generate opportunities for policy synergies in climate, health, economic growth and development, political stability, and the promotion of peace, among other areas.
“All transformative action,” per the report, “should rely on science-informed evidence,” with legitimacy of elected officials and commitments to their voters, coalition building of majority governments, societal values, and ethical considerations also determining policy decisions.
The paper was prepared by Committee members Rolf Alter, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, and Louis Meuleman, in collaboration with fellow Committee members Lamia Moubayed Bissat and Alketa Peci. [Publication: Governance and Institutional Perspectives on Advancing Sustainable, Inclusive, Science and Evidence-based Solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals]