The SDG Push framework aims to provide a comprehensive and country-specific UNDP tool to plan and implement SDG breakthroughs in a variety of development contexts, for both pro-cyclical and anti-cyclical response moments – elevating fiscal, financial, digital/data and governance enablers of sustainable development. It is envisaged as an all-terrain tool, meant to catalyze breakthroughs from real-world constraints, rather than adding mechanical benchmarks or targets. “SDG Push” consultations will progressively be rolled out at national level – led by a top team of experts, delivering a country-specific playbook that bridges short run and long run horizons.
Context
Developing countries in every region are entering a divergent social, political, and economic period with sharp downside risks for the most vulnerable, regression in gender equality, increased pressure on natural resources and diminished resilience to shocks.
With a broad economic slowdown coupled by high inflation and a tight fiscal and monetary policy response, we need approaches that practically advance transformative structural change and challenge the tendency towards short term macroeconomic adjustments that largely assume away different voices and social impact.
SDG Push: Design
The SDG Push aims to support countries towards more stable footing by reimagining and recalibrating how we determine, interrogate and advance development interventions. It builds from learning through the COVID-19 pandemic and first half of the 2030 Agenda, to advance:
-
Longer term structural transformation while balancing short term imperatives: Identifies policy pathways that advance well-being and long-term impact for the most vulnerable – directly connecting fiscal and monetary reforms with human development.
-
Viable policy choices that shift systems while pinpointing improvements within systems: Generates clusters of options and potential pathways through more inclusive and innovative national and sub-national policy dialogues considering the synergies and tradeoffs of different policies and interventions.
Key Elements:
-
Scoping: Examines specific contexts and trends with data visualization via the SDG Push Diagnostic, establishing a rapid landscape of trends, current priorities, futures and interlinkages.
-
Acceleration Dialogues: Leverages sensemaking protocols to explore scoping outcomes, interrogate previous policies and chart accelerators.
-
Modelling: Engages new forms of participatory and economic modelling to assess the impact of potential accelerators.
-
Sustainable Finance: Estimates financing and feasibility of potential accelerators. It uses SDG finance tools, including the Integration National Financing Framework (INFF).
-
Acceleration Pathways: Integrates insights developed through this approach with data visualizations and recommendations to advance policy interventions.
SDG Push: Assets and Guidance
-
Integrated web interface to build coalitions, showcase impact, country insights, new research.
-
Online toolbox with guidance documents, process flow charts, methodology notes and templates users through each step, how the steps are linked with quick tips and advice.
-
A fiscal/financial SDG Stimulus Plan tool to assess pathways on liquidity, debt, and risk-adjusted private financial flows for critical SDG/Paris Agreement investments.
-
Custom-built SDG Push Diagnostic to establish a rapid baseline with data-powered visualizations, a natural language processing tool, futures scenarios, and mapping interlinkages.
-
Flagship research on Assessing COVID Impact on the SDGs, and the SDG Push scenario – a set of interventions originally introduced in 2021 and updated in 2022 to simulate a strong, integrated push toward improving development and SDG achievement globally.
SDG Acceleration Pathways: What Can Countries Expect
-
Country-specific landing pad for the UN Secretary General’s SDG Stimulus Plan, aimed at expanding SDG policy space to ramp up investments aligned to SDG/Paris Agreement targets.
-
Integrated development landscape: Analysis of the interactions across social, economic, political geopolitical, health and environmental developments.
-
Portfolios of potential interventions: Structured dialogue methods explore persistent challenges, barriers, root causes and emerging futures to co-create potential pathways and policy interventions.
-
Adapted modeling and costing: Derived from data and dialogue, with focus on groups and geographies to stress test policy options. Costing potential policy interventions establishes needed fiscal space with financing options leveraging existing tools like the INFF.
SDG Push: Piloting in 2022-2023
The SDG Push framework is currently being piloted in Indonesia, Moldova, Namibia, Peru, and South Africa, supported by a global team anchored in the SDG Integration Team, in collaboration with national experts with policy, economist, data and dialogue profiles with Resident Representative leads.
Collaboration across the UN Development System (UNDS): Co-designed with a multidisciplinary and cross-UNDS team, including FAO, ILO, UN Women, UNICEF, UN DESA, and DCO as well as at national level with UN Resident Coordinators, UN Country Teams, and Government leadership.
More information, contact the SDG Integration Team: [email protected].
Please log in or sign up to comment.