Lessons Learned and good practices in monitoring progress towards SDGs | UNSSC

The UN System Staff College (UNSSC) and the IE School of Global and Public Affairs’ Bachelor in International Relations (BIR) Programme have completed a second edition of the joint Summer Research Programme.

The research culminated in a dynamic virtual event on 7 October 2022, where students showcased their findings and conclusions, and will be followed by a presentation on 26 January 2023 at Secretariat for International Cooperation, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In this edition the research was oriented to providing a comparative analysis on the approaches and methods undertaken by the 42 countries that presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) in July 2021 at the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development, on the following areas of research:

• Process of planning and preparation of VNRs in selected countries; institutions involved; timing and steps.
• Stakeholders involvement (civil society, volunteers, private sector, United Nations) in measuring progress towards SDGs targets and indicators; roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved.
• Challenges and limitations in measuring some SDGs indicators; use of proxy indicators; use of non-official data for reporting indicators; process of verification of data.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the countries have utilized innovative policies and tools to collect data and information through online surveys, virtual platforms, and remote collaboration. The research report is available here.