The Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD) follows up on and reviews the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the UNECE region. Focusing on practical value-added and peer learning, it creates a regional space to share policy solutions, best practices and challenges in SDG implementation and helps identify major regional and subregional trends. Read more 

Round tables facilitated peer learning and practical exchange of experiences and best practices for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Please find further information on each round table here. Informal concept notes and descriptions of each round table can be found in the tabs below.

The Regional Forum was preceded by a civil society pre-meeting on 28 February 2018 at the Palais des Nations. Please find the agenda here here.

The Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) are part of the follow-up and review mechanism of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 15 countries from the UNECE region volunteered to take part in VNRs at the 2018 session of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). The Division for Sustainable Development of UN DESA organized a Regional Preparatory Meeting for VNR countries of the UNECE region on 28 February 2018 at the Palais des Nations. Participation upon invitation by UN DESA.

Organiser: UNECE

Venue: room 2 (plenary hall), International Conference Center Geneva (CICG)

Description: The fashion industry has a significant impact on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This side event gathers the UN offices that address issues related to sustainable fashion to brainstorm and discuss how the UN could reach a comprehensive, coherent and coordinated approach towards the development of a sustainable fashion industry in order to contribute efficiently to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Please find further information here.

Organiser: Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, UN SDG Action Campaign, European Youth Forum, UNFPA EECA Regional Office, UN Youth Delegates of Sweden, Slovakia and Hungary

Venue: room 3, International Conference Center Geneva (CICG)

Description: This side-event will discuss and share best practices on how Member States can work together with adolescents and youth as partners on the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in specific in the process of drafting Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), and in their delegations to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

Please find the programme of the side event here.

Organiser: Czech Republic

Title: Achieving the SDGs by participation of all – in the light of SEA/EIA procedures; Perspectives of the Czech Republic, Georgia, EU and UNECE.

Description: The event focus on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA) as tools for preventing and mitigating damage to environment and health through inclusive and participatory decision-making and international collaboration. It builds on experience of the Czech Republic and Georgia and will concentrate on specific activities under the regional programme "Greening Economies in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood" (EaP GREEN) placed under the competence of the UNECE. It also links to participation as a lead theme of the current Czech presidency of ECOSOC.

Please find further information here.

Organiser: UN-Water

Venue: room 15, International Conference Center Geneva (CICG)

Description: To provide input to Member States preparing the in-depth review of SDG 6 for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, UN-Water will release a report on the global status on water and sanitation. This side event presents the early signals emerging from the writing process and discusses ways to accelerate achieving SDG 6 within the broader context of the 2030 Agenda. Kindly find further information in the programme and here.

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Organiser: United Nations Issue-Based Coalition on Gender Equality for Europe and Central Asia Region

Venue: room 3, International Conference Center Geneva (CICG)

Description: The aim of this event is to clearly position gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls within the broader scope of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and identify gender as an accelerator for sustainable development in Europe and Central Asia.

Please find the programme here.

Organiser: Eurasian Economic Commission

Venue: room 7/8, International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG)

Description: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a key element of the strategic long-term development for most countries of the world including Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The focus of this side events is on three aspects: (1) how regional integration supports the achievement of the SDG Agenda in the EAEU and its Member States, (2) presentation of the System of Integration Indicators (SII) and (3) presentation of the report on Inclusive Growth for the EAEU Member States.

Further information and the programme of the side event.

Organiser: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Venue: room 15, International Conference Center Geneva (CICG)

Description: Conventional methods of assessing the financial feasibility of infrastructure ignore a range of material environmental, social and economic risks, intangibles and externalities. When these risks and externalities are included, the business case for sustainable infrastructure become much more apparent. IISD developed the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) tool to demonstrate to governments, investors and citizens why sustainable assets can deliver better value for money and more attractive internal rates of return. This session will cover the essentials of sustainable infrastructure, the use of the SAVi methodology, as well as a demonstration of SAVi on an actual infrastructure project (offshore windfarm in the Nord Sea) to foster an understanding of the information that SAVi generates.

Please find here the programme of the side event.

Organiser: UN Volunteers (UNV) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)

Venue: room 4, International Conference Center Geneva (CICG)

Description: Agenda 2030 highlights a people-centered approach to development efforts. An estimated 1 billion people volunteer in their communities globally. To date, discussions under SDGs have focused primarily on financial resources. This session provides guidance on how Member States can strengthen analysis and reporting under SDG17 through integrating national data on volunteerism by:

• Including qualitative and quantitative data to estimate economic value of volunteering;
• Demonstrating case studies on voluntary citizen engagement to provide a narrative on social inclusion.

Evidence on volunteerism is a source of information that can be used to showcase a ‘whole of society approach’ within VNRs and to move beyond financial resource considerations. The session will be run by UN Volunteers and the International Labour Organization.

Please find here the flyer and programme of the side event. 

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All the essentials are summed up in our guide for participants.

More than 600 participants registered, including government delegations from about 50 countries. Take a glance at the list of registered participants. If you have any comments on the participants list, please contact sdgu@unece.org.

Preliminary List of Speakers

Photos:

Opening, High-level Policy Segment

Side events: Fashion and the SDGs, SDG 6 Water Synthesis Report, Achieving SDGs by the participation of all, Youth as partners, 

Articles:

• 2018 Regional Forum on Sustainable Development to foster exchange of experiences and solutions for SDG implementation in the UNECE region
• Regional Forum on Sustainable Development: a “Springboard for future action”