Lessons Learned and good practices in monitoring progress towards SDGs

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.