Why a Voluntary National Review?
Effective monitoring and evaluation of the 2030 Agenda is essential to ensure continued action and progress towards the SDGs. Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) are at the heart of this monitoring process. They are a tool for measuring progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. They also provide an opportunity to exchange experiences, successes, challenges and lessons learned. This enables countries to strengthen their policies and mobilize all stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
When adopting Agenda 2030, the United Nations decided not to impose a mandatory reporting mechanism. Since then, States have been able to submit a Voluntary National Review to the High-Level Political Forum, which is held once a year in July in New York, at a pace of their choosing. In order to facilitate the exchange of practices between States and to structure the approach, the UN proposes a methodology each year based on the best practices of previous years.
To date, Belgium has presented two Voluntary National Reviews to the HLPF in 2017 and 2023.
The first report in 2017 provided an opportunity to take stock of the initiatives put in place and to announce the commitments of the various Belgian public authorities to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
The second exercise in 2023 presented the progress made in achieving the various objectives and identified the challenges related to implementation and the prospects for the coming years.