SDG 16 Reporting

A key lesson from the Millennium Development Goals is that progress on the SDGs is dependent on robust and regular follow-up and review processes. This is especially necessary for Goal 16, which is a new goal.

The 2030 Agenda and the Secretary General’s report emphasize that these reviews should happen at national, regional and global levels, building upon each other. Therefore, for SDG 16 reporting occurs in three stages to ensure accurate and effective progress tracking on Goal 16. Reviewing SDG 16 at the national level is the most essential to ensure that reporting is evidence-based and inclusive.

National review processes ensure that SDG reporting is:

Nationally owned: designed to address the needs identified by national actors.
Nationally driven: implemented with active participation from national actors.
Evidence-based: informed and designed by the latest data about the country’s needs, challenges and opportunities.

SDG reporting occurs at three levels:

Global level
The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development is the main platform for global reviews. It occurs annually under the Economic and Social Council, and every fourth year under the General Assembly. This high-level political event allows Member States to present the progress they have made on the SDGs through Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). Global reviews allow countries to share their experiences on the SDGs and promote collaboration amongst multi-stakeholders.
Regional level
Regional reviews, organized by UN regional commissions, provide the necessary link between the national and global level. These regional analyses give countries the opportunity to discuss shared challenges and prepare inputs at regional sustainable development forums for the HLPF.
National level
Country led reporting or national level reviews are the most important level of the review process. The VNRs provide a platform for the various entities within countries to come together to share information on the reporting and monitoring processes of SDG 16. Processes at the national level enable diverse social groups to engage in dialogue and understanding, promote whole-of-government-, whole-of-society coordination structures and help to identify reporting and monitoring mechanisms that measure the success of these efforts and provide the data that will create effective evidence-based strategies.