1 July 2016, Geneva, Switzerland. UNITAR will deliver 2 learning sessions at this year’s High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF2016), in New York, on 14 July from 10:00 to 12:00 and on 15 July from 15:00 to 17:00. The sessions will aim to promote an improved understanding of requirements related to harmonized policies and inclusive national review and M&E systems for the SDGs. They will feature renowned international and national experts and will be organized as part of the HLPF SDGs Learning, Training and Practice Center.
The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is the United Nations central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s official session opens on 11 July and will close on 20 July 2016, at the end of the three-day high-level segment. The HLPF SDGs Learning, Training and Practice center is organized on the side-lines of the Forum from 11 to 15 July to provide learning opportunities to delegates and other interested persons. It is designed as a hands-on capacity building, networking and experience-sharing activity, with high-level speakers, trainers and experts. Sessions endeavour to support the HLPF theme of "Ensuring that no one is left behind".
UNITAR also acts as the main organizer of the following two learning sessions:
1st learning session: “Harmonizing global, regional and national commitments to implement the SDGs”, Thursday 14 July, 10:00 - 12:00, Conference Room E, UN Headquarters, New York.
Objective: The objective of this learning session is to discuss the features of the new types of integrated planning and policy-making approaches required to ensure harmonized implementation of key global commitments, such as SDGs and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), and of regional and national objectives. The session will start with a panel discussion followed by a 30-min. training session organized by the World Resources Institute and UNITAR.
Programme:
Facilitated by Nikhil Seth, UNITAR Executive Director
Panel discussion (1h 30min.)
1. Setting the stage: What new approaches to planning and policymaking for the implementation of the SDGs and related commitments at the country level?
Expert:
Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the UNSG on SDGs, Director of The Earth Institute, Professor at Columbia University, Chair of UNITAR Advisory Council on the 2030 Agenda
2. Opportunities for aligning the implementation of the SDGs and INDCs: What areas of convergence for high impact interventions?
Expert:
Halldór Thorgeirsson, Director for Strategy, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
3. Building a framework to harmonize the SDGs and Africa 2063: What implications for African countries?
Expert:
Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations
4. What can we learn from the experience of national Governments in harmonizing global, regional and national commitments?
Expert:
Hajia Zainab Ahmed, Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (TBC)
Training session by World Resources Institute and UNITAR (30 min.)
2nd learning session: “Strengthening national reviews and M&E systems for the SDGs”, Friday 15 July, 15:00 - 17:00, Conference Room E, UN Headquarters, New York.
Objective: This session will aim to discuss challenges related to ensuring regular and inclusive national reviews of progress and strengthening M&E systems for the SDGs. It will be structured at the same time as a space for discussion, learning and sharing of experience using three types of methodological approaches: sharing of opinions and ideas, demonstration of learning tools and methodologies, and sharing of country-level practices. It will start with an introductory presentation on inclusive review processes and will be followed by the panel discussion dedicated to data, monitoring and evaluation for the SDGs. At the end, a 30-min. training session will help improve participants’ knowledge about the use of the systems thinking for evaluating the SDGs.
Programme:
Facilitated by Nikhil Seth, Executive Director of UNITAR
Introductory presentation: Regular and inclusive national reviews for the SDGs (15 min.)
Expert:
Marianne Beisheim, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Member of UNITAR Advisory Council on the 2030 Agenda
Panel: Strengthening national systems to monitor and evaluate progress on the SDGs (60 min.)
Experts:
Francesca Perucci, Deputy Director of Statistics Division, UN-DESA
Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice-President of the World Bank Group for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships, Member of UNITAR Advisory Council on the 2030 Agenda
Felip Castro Manchon, Technical Secretary for the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Director of Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies, Ministry of National Planning, Colombia (TBC)
Representative, Switzerland (TBC)
Representative of the UNEG Executive Group (TBC)
Discussion
Learning animation «Mainstreaming the SDGs and strengthening M&E systems» (10 min.)
Training session: Evaluation for the SDGs (30 min.)
Trainer:
Dorothy Lucks, Executive Director of SDF Global and Co-Chair of EVALSDGs
Registration is not required for those who are already accredited to the HLPF. Other participants would need to register at (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/SDGsLearning) to obtain badges for accessing the Forum venue.
More information about UNITAR’s activities and learning products on the SDGs is available at www.unitar.org/a2030
Contact: elena.proden@unitar.org