Background
The 2024 session of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development is the 12th session of the HLPF.
The meeting was held between the 8th to 18th of July 2024 in New York, United States of America under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The HLPF 2024 took place under the theme, ‘Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: The effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions”, focusing on; SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships).
Purpose
The HLPF is the main UN platform on Sustainable Development. It has a central role in the follow-up and review of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs. All UN Member States as well as representatives from civil society organisations participate in the HLPF, which meets under the auspices of ECOSOC.
Namibia demonstrated its commitment to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of which the targets and indicators are aligned to the National Development Plans (NDPs). As a result, Namibia through the National Planning Commission participated in the process of formulating and developing its First, Second and now the Third Voluntary National Review (VNR) reported in 2018, 2021 and 2024 respectively at the High-Level Political Forum in New York. The formulation of the reports was undertaken with the wider participation and contribution of multi-stakeholders.
Findings
This year’s high-level political forum on sustainable development followed up on the commitments made in the Political Declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit. Regarding SDG 1 (no poverty), member states agreed to enhance and support policies and strategies for reducing poverty and inequality, including through international cooperation. For SDG 2 (zero hunger), the Political Declaration emphasised the need to accelerate actions to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition. Addressing SDG 13 (climate action), the Political Declaration stressed the importance of enhancing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. For SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), emphasis was placed on promoting inclusive societies that would provide equal access to justice based on respect for human rights. SDG 17 (partnership for the goals) was addressed throughout the Declaration, with the expressed desire for international coordination and support for achieving the SDGs by 3 2030. Meeting these goals will require transformative, sustainable, resilient, and innovative solutions to ensure a just and equitable future.
Part of the slow progress in achieving the SDGs is a financing issue. The SDG financing gap has increased from 2.5 to 4.0 trillion US dollars annually for developing countries. The United Nations Secretary General called for an SDG stimulus of at least USD 500 billion each year as a long-term plan to ensure deliverable action and financing. Vulnerable populations face intersecting threats, and for policies to be resilient and sustainable, their specific vulnerabilities need to be considered.
Climate impacts have exposed millions of children to homelessness and 920 million children to water scarcity. The impact of climate inaction is leaving billions behind, drawing increased focus to early warning systems as a strategy to combat anticipated raises in poverty and hunger in times of natural disasters.
This shift towards prioritising resilience, prevention, and risk assessments over emergency responses is crucial for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It requires innovative and forward-looking solutions that foster increased sustainability. Inefficient and insufficient disaster risk response furthers socioeconomic inequality as it drains economic resources from affected countries. Innovative solutions utilising new technologies, international cooperation, financing for disaster management, and addressing evolutions of new threats are critical to building resilience.
