SDG 16 Conference 2026

Join us at the 2026 SDG 16 Conference – Driving Transformation and Coordinated Action for Sustainable Development

📅 17 June 2026
📍 United Nations Headquarters, New York

The Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) co-organized the SDG 16 Conference 2026 – “Driving transformation and coordinated action for sustainable development", held on 17 June 2026 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. 

Building on the outcomes of the previous six editions, the Conference provided a platform for showcasing concrete examples of how action on SDG 16 delivers tangible results for societies and supports national development priorities. It mobilized action-oriented partnerships and identified practical pathways through which SDG 16 can accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda and contribute to the implementation of the Pact for the Future. The Conference aims at informing key intergovernmental processes in 2026, including the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

The Conference will feature three thematic panel sessions: 1) Stocktaking progress on SDG 16; 2) Peace, justice and effective institutions: the transformative impact of SDG 16; and 3) Partnerships and collective action to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies. Civil society stakeholders will present the 2026 Civil Society Declaration on SDG 16+.

Watch Part 1 of the Conference 

Watch Part 2 of the Conference

The Conference featured statements by:

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
H.E. Mr. Edmondo Cirielli, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy
H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock, President of the United Nations General Assembly
H.E. Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
Mr. Alexander De Croo, Administrator, UNDP
Ms. Jan Beagle, Director-General, International Development Law Organization
(IDLO) 

H. E. Mr. Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Human Capital Development, Ministry of Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, Kenya
H. E. Mr. Inocêncio Florentino José Impissa, Minister of State Administration and Public Service, Ministry of State Administration and Public Service, Mozambique
H.E. Mr. Ulvi Mehdiyev, Chairman, State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations, Azerbaijan
H.E. Mr. Alejandro Encinas Nájera, Vice Minister for Good Governance, Ministry of Anticorruption and Good Governance, Mexico
Mr. Helder Da Costa, General Secretary, g7+ Secretariat
Ms. Thioro Mbaye Sall, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Public Service, Senegal
Mr. Faisal Adan Hassan, Permanent Secretary of the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Federal Government of Somalia
Mr. Semen Kryvonos, Director, National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine
Mr. Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, Ombudsman, Republic of the Philippines 

Hon. Ebenezer Cobbinah, Municipal Chief Executive, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, Ghana
Ms. Claudia Fuentes Julio, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of OHCHR
Mr. Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
Ms. Monica Kathina Juma, Executive Director, UNODC (video message)
Mr. Arturo Herrera Gutierrez, Global Director for Governance, World Bank
Ms. Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, former Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union
Ms. Margaret Williams, Associate Director, SDG16+ Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies
Mr. Enzo Romero, Young Leader for the SDGs, Mechatronics Engineer, Bionic Innovator & Founder of LAT Bionics, Peru