Voluntary reporting on the 2030 Agenda

Background

A key element of the 2030 Agenda is follow-up and review at the national, regional and global levels. Voluntary national reviews (VNRs) are the main mechanism to assess progress at the national level, then feed into regional and global platforms.

At the national level, Governments are committed to a systematic follow-up and review of the Agenda’s implementation until 2030, through a robust, voluntary, effective, participatory, transparent and integrated follow-up and review framework. As such, most Arab countries have conducted VNRs, some more than once.

ESCWA provides support by providing technical advice to member States on their VNR process and report development, in close collaboration with the United Nations country team.

Our approach

Our partners

Our activities

ESCWA organizes annual regional VNR workshops that facilitate peer-learning, capacity-building and the sharing of best practices in different contexts. For the peer-learning objective, ESCWA established an Arab VNR Community of Practice that provides a platform for government officials to engage in focused discussions, access knowledge and information, and establish professional relationships to support and enhance their work on VNRs.

VNRs are featured every year at the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development. ESCWA research on mapping and analysing VNRs on a number of dimensions feeds into a dedicated roundtable session, where government representatives come together to discuss challenges, opportunities and the post-VNR phase.

ESCWA also supports the development of learning materials, including toolkits and guidelines on the VNR process, and makes them available in Arabic. To that effect, and since 2018, ESCWA has translated into Arabic the Handbook for the Preparation of Voluntary National Reviews developed by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs.

Arab VNR Community of Practice

Recognizing the importance of knowledge exchange and peer-learning, ESCWA established the Arab VNR Community of Practice which brings together government officials from Arab countries who spearheaded the preparation of the VNR at a working level, and those currently engaged in such a role.

The Community allows its members to benefit from commonalities and differences in the VNR experience, given their varying levels of development and institutional setups for follow-up and review. It also keeps its members abreast of regional and global processes, including the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development and the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

League of Arab States

The League of Arab States (LAS) co-organizes VNR workshops alongside ESCWA and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Since 2016, LAS has granted special attention to the 2030 Agenda through its activities, and encourages member States to adopt it as part of their national development planning and policies.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

DESA co-organized VNR workshops alongside ESCWA and the League of Arab States. Through its Office for Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development, DESA provides support to the work of the General Assembly, ECOSOC and HLPF on sustainable development. The Office supports inclusive HLPF preparations, notably its regular reviews of progress towards the SDGs, including voluntary national reviews.

Focus areas