4th meeting of the Partners for Review

Dianova strengthens partnership for the monitoring and review of the Sustainable Development Goals

Partners for Review

P4R provides participants with the opportunity to look at the national review and follow-up process as a means to implement the 2030 Agenda

By Saionara König-Reis – Partners for Review (P4R) is a transnational network of governments, private sector, United Nations (UN) agencies, and civil society representatives who are working on the review processes of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The initiative is led by the German government and it was inaugurated after the first High Level Political Forum (HLPF) of the SDGs era, which took place in 2016. This network aims to strengthen competencies and facilitate knowledge exchange between different actors and countries, in order to promote robust reviewing processes of the SDGs at the national and international levels.

With the participation of 26 countries, 4 UN agencies and 12 international organizations (including Dianova International), the 4th network meeting of the Partners for Review took place on 11 and 12 of April, in Tbilisi, Georgia. Dianova joined the P4R meeting for the first time, represented by the Head of our New York Office and Representative to the UN, Saionara König-Reis. Dianova’s participation at the P4R meeting is particularly timely as we get ready to present, by June this year, our first report on the impact of our member organizations in the implementation of the SDGs in their respective countries.

Tools and Good Practices to Implement and Review the SDGs

The P4R event gave participants the opportunity to look at the national review and follow-up processes as a means to implement the 2030 Agenda. The premise being that the act of collectively measuring progress is an effective way to inform policy makers on the most pressing needs of the communities they serve. To this end, participants exchanged useful resources and good practices that can help SDGs practitioners with the challenges of dealing with such a complex development Agenda, in an inclusive and participatory manner.

To mention a few examples: In Germany, the government has introduced a Peer Review mechanism, welcoming a group of international experts to review the German Sustainable Development Strategy this year, becoming an interesting example of openness to criticism and opportunity to grow. In regards to governmental structure, UNDP presented a guideline with key steps to create and strengthen institutional and coordination mechanisms to facilitate integration and coherence for SDG implementation. Speaking to the data challenge, the National Statistical Office of Palestine opened a dialogue about their efforts and experience in managing the engagement of civil society to bridge the data gap for the SDGs in the country.

As for the review processes itself, the P4R team discussed the lessons learned from the countries’ reports presented in the Voluntary National Review of the HLPF in 2017. In the same line, promoting the private sector engagement with SDGs reporting processes, the UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) spoke of the Action Platform to accelerate corporate reporting on the SDGs. And finally, the Danish Institute for Human Rights highlighted the role of National Human Rights Institutions in implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. They also presented their remarkable database to ensure accountable sustainable development, making the necessary links between human rights mechanisms and the SDGs.