Within the framework of the Sixth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, from April 25 to 28, 2023, under the Presidency of Argentina, ECLAC and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organized a regional workshop on Voluntary National Reports (INV) and the relationship between such INV and Local Voluntary Reports (ILV) to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
CONTEXT
The countries of the LAC region have appropriated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a State commitment, in broad cooperation with multiple stakeholders, including civil society, youth, the private sector, academia, local authorities and legislative authorities, among others. Between 2016 and 2022, 31 of the 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean reported their progress in the appropriation, follow-up, and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs with the presentation of at least one INV at the High-Level Political Forum on Development Sustainable Development (FPAN) in New York. Of these 31 countries, 16 countries have submitted an INV on more than one occasion. Despite the various challenges posed by multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine crisis and climate change, the commitment and sustained effort of countries to ensure follow-up to the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Goals of Sustainable Development (SDG) remains intact. Although the 2030 Agenda continues to be the road map for a sustainable post-pandemic recovery, the INVs continue to be the main mechanisms to review the progress and challenges in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the national level and to account for the trajectory and strategies Of each country. They also create opportunities for peer learning and collective reflection on common or cross-border sustainable development challenges. The emergence in the region of a series of SILs, innovative exercises that express the commitment of actors at the subnational, municipal, and local levels to the 2030 Agenda, also constitute a tool for appropriation of the 2030 Agenda and complement national efforts.
PARTICIPANTS
This year, four countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will formally present their INVs during the HLPF in July 2023: Saint Kitts and Nevis for the first time, Barbados and Guyana for the second time, and Chile for the third time. Participants in this regional workshop included representatives of the countries that will present their INV in 2023; representatives of those countries that intend to submit their INV in 2024 or in subsequent years; representatives of other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, including those actively participating in ECLAC’s INV Community of Practice for LAC countries who can share relevant experiences from previous years’ INV processes; local authorities from the LAC region who have been involved in SDG localization efforts and/or SIL preparation; Resident Coordinators and representatives of their offices, and other officials of the United Nations system, including representatives of DESA and ECLAC, as well as other actors, including civil society and the academic sector.
OBJECTIVE OF THE WORKSHOP
The main objective of the workshop was to strengthen the knowledge and capacities of LAC countries in the formulation and preparation of their INVs and SILs as part of the national strategy to implement the 2030 Agenda, and improve vertical integration at the local, national, and national levels. , regional and global.
RESULTS
Expected outcomes of this workshop included:
-
Increased regional dialogue, peer learning and exchange of good practices in the formulation, dissemination and presentation of INVs and SILs in different contexts, as well as in national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and its interrelationships with the implementation of the SDGs .
-
Strengthening the capacities of the participants to: link the INVs with the national strategies for the long-term implementation of the 2030 Agenda; articulate subnational and local efforts; and identify their contribution to the INV process.
METHODOLOGY
The workshop included interactive sessions on national efforts to prepare for the INVs and the follow-up of the 2030 Agenda. Specific areas will be discussed, such as strategies and roadmaps for the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda in all its dimensions in the medium and long term. term, the importance of the territorialization of the SDGs, the monitoring and measurement of progress, the identification of challenges and solutions, and the participation of relevant actors, among others. Valuable lessons learned from previous INV and SIL processes will be presented, as well as key messages that emerged from the ECLAC Community of Practice. In addition, the INV and SIL were considered as a tool to accelerate action for the SDGs within the framework of the Decade of Action and with a view to the United Nations SDG Summit to be held in September 2023. The workshop it was carried out in a spirit of peer learning by encouraging the exchange of concrete experiences of the participating countries and local authorities. Countries were invited to give presentations based on guiding questions, followed by interactive discussions to encourage dialogue and exchange among all participants.
