Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region:

Facing a Headwind in 2024

Foreword

The Sustainable Development Goals Summit of 2023 marked an essential high-level commitment to accelerate progress towards Agenda 2030. Agreeing to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Rescue Plan for People and Planet, world leaders injected new confidence in the ability to deliver a better future. However, with the resounding impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the continuous war against Ukraine, the shocks arising from climate change, the high interest rates and still-elevated inflation, efforts to advance towards the SDGs are facing strong headwinds, both globally and in the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

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Introduction

Every year, all five United Nations regional commissions organize regional forums for sustainable development for international exchanges among governments and other stakeholders. In the region of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which comprises 56 countries of Europe, North America and Central Asia, the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development will be held for the eighth time on 13 and 14 March 2024 in Geneva.

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Progress in the UNECE region

How many targets are on track?

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Stories

The agencies and United Nations country teams participating in the Regional Coordination Group on Data and Statistics for Europe and Central Asia and all UNECE programmes provided stories. These 17 stories provide rich insights into the ways in which various regional and country level actions relate to sustainable development outcomes.

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EXPLORE Second SDG Dialogue “Towards 2030: Social and economic inclusiveness in Azerbaijan”

UN Azerbaijan

EXPLORE Child poverty

UNICEF

EXPLORE Filling a reporting gap on policy frameworks to eradicate poverty: methodology and data availability

UNICEF

EXPLORE SDG indicator on overweight among children: how are countries doing with data availability?

UNICEF

EXPLORE Promotion of result-based budgeting in healthcare sector of the Republic of Belarus to meet SDG targets and strengthening health protection

UNFPA Belarus

EXPLORE Artificial glacier helps mountain village in Kyrgyzstan meet water needs

FAO Kyrgyzstan

EXPLORE TIR Convention, the United Nations global border crossing facilitation solution

UNECE Transport

EXPLORE A new financing mechanism for green investments in North Macedonia

UNDP North Macedonia

EXPLORE Adaptation of cities to climate-related extreme events

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

EXPLORE How UN standards and partnerships helped to unlock geothermal energy in Albania

UNECE Sustainable Energy

EXPLORE Urban trees for climate and SDGs: mobilizing action at the local, national and international level

UNECE Forestry, Housing and Land Management

EXPLORE Voices heard: navigating progress through citizen-driven decision making

UNDP North Macedonia

EXPLORE Advancing environmental justice and good governance through the Aarhus Convention and the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers

UNECE Environment

EXPLORE Third SDG Dialogue “Reflections on the outcome of the global SDG Summit 2023 and the role of Supreme Audit Institutions in SDGs implementation”

UN Azerbaijan

EXPLORE Mystery of Sary Kol – a game for change

UN Kyrgyzstan

EXPLORE Achieving the SDGs through public-private partnerships by promoting quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure

UNECE Economic Cooperation and Trade

EXPLORE National indicators for measuring progress with SDGs

UNECE Statistics