"Government officials were able to see the complexity and the integrated nature of all sectors. How, for instance, a change in tourism policies affects environmental policies, food production policies and so on. It also gave insights into the positive impact of fine-tuning some policies."

National ownership to monitor and achieve the SDGs is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. However, many National Statistical Offices (NSO) face challenges in monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the SDGs. These challenges include the complexity of measuring certain problems and building relevant indicators, limited statistical capacity to monitor identified indicators, the lack of tools to facilitate the use of available information, and coordination difficulties experienced by stakeholders in producing, storing, and using the data, to name just a few.

"The work on this course has been a very practical level of collaboration linked to the network and as a result, we have also started looking into developing microlearning on statistics.”

With the hackathon, Enas became more inspired to continue promoting healthier lifestyles and cities’ renaturalization with her students. She has replicated some of the methodologies from the hackathon in her classes.

During the course, we talked often amongst the other participants of the ELPE. Before the ELPE, I didn’t think about SDG evaluation. Gradually, with my colleagues in the class we exchanged our knowledge and opinions. It was very effective to talk with the other colleagues from all over [the world]. We shared knowledge, and I was inspired, so I decided to start the SDG evaluation in Japan. They are also working on the SDG evaluation in their [respective] countries.

Further to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015, two rounds of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of its implementation have taken place at the global level in July 2016 and July 2017 in the context of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.

Achieving the SDGs requires national ownership. This workshop, which is undoubtedly the beginning of a training process for civil servants, will facilitate the implementation of the SDGs in Togo.

Some skills can be repeated and shared, like impact assessment using satellite images, that is quite easy to reapply.

I got some more in-depth knowledge and I was able to contribute to the project proposal writing of the think-tank in a more informed and professional manner.

"We want to engage everyone in Jordan in our work towards the SDGs – civil society, community leaders, women, youth, people with disabilities."