Advancing sustainable development governance and implementation at the national level

Stakeholder Forum, as administrators of the Global Network of National Councils for Sustainable Development and Similar Bodies (GN-NCSDs), recently co-organised a series of SDplanNet regional workshops in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The workshops brought together national-level sustainable development practitioners to helping to identify capacity building gaps for planning, implementation and monitoring processes, and consolidating regional communities of practice.

These workshops culminated in the first Global Sustainable Development Transition Forum (SDTF) in Incheon, Republic of Korea. Stakeholder Forum worked closely with its hosts, the UN Office for Sustainable Development, to develop the Forum’s outcome, the Incheon Communique, a call for governments at all levels to strengthen planning and implementation capacities with regard to: (i) multi-stakeholder processes, institutions and strategy creation; (ii) integrated planning through vertical and horizontal coordination and collaboration; (iii) policies and programs that cut across key sectors and issues; and (iv) monitoring, reporting and accountability mechanisms.

During the SDTF, Stakeholder Forum convened the first Annual General Meeting of the GN-NCSDs, bringing together members of the Network’s International Advisory Group (IAG) and representatives from a number of NCSDs and similar bodies, along with other expert from around the world. The meeting recapped the current status of the Network and key achievements to date, explored ideas and activities for next steps, including how it could help NCSDs to engage in the design and delivery of the new global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how the Network should be administered going forward.

Stakeholder Forum is currently working closely with a number of partners to develop a new proposal to continue the work of the GN-NCSDs as part of a new long-term global SDplanNet project.