Building Voluntary National Reviews must be an effective process

Cepei and the Colombian Confederation of NGOs, together with representatives from the Jamaican and Panama governments, the United Nations, and civil society organizations, outlined how the construction of second and subsequent Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) can benefit from previous voluntary national review exercises.

VNRs are a mechanism to follow up and review the progress made in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implementing the 2030 Agenda. Each year, countries present their reports to the international community at the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF). 

“Second-generation or subsequent VNRs are not a mechanism to present a new beginning, but an opportunity to evaluate how countries have progressed towards the 2030 Agenda”, stated Natalia Patiño, Senior Researcher for global agendas at Cepei. Patiño also highlighted that “second-generation reports must offer a more comprehensive assessment of a country’s achievements and consider the factors that have been driving change since the first voluntary review”. 

Representatives from Panama and Jamaica shared their VNRs building processes and highlighted the importance of sustainable development stakeholders playing active roles during it. They also assured that an effective cycle must consider an SDG monitoring and follow-up phase and an implementation phase.