Government, civil society and private sector partners convened in New York on Monday by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to address the urgent need to put the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track.
The ambitious set of objectives agreed in 2015 for people and planet have been derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating global crises.
Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda the world has undergone significant changes, and progress towards the SDG is falling behind due to financial, energy, food, and humanitarian setbacks exacerbated by geopolitical tensions.
The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the HLPF, takes place at the mid-point in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda. Focusing on ways to accelerate the global recovery, it will set the grounds for the crucial SDG Summit scheduled for September 2023.
Addressing the HLPF’s opening session, Ms. Lachezara Stoeva, Bulgaria’s representative to the UN and current President of ECOSOC, described this annual HLPF as “the opportunity to build political momentum for the Summit, as well as identify key policy priorities to be addressed.”
The Forum will be basing its work on two key documents: the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report and the Special Edition of the Secretary-General’s SDG Progress Report.