VNR lessons for the Decade of Action and to Build Forward Better: Identifying Best Practices and Progressing Effective SDGs Implementation
This United Nations 2021 High-level Political Forum side event focuses on the growing body of work related to Voluntary National Review (VNR) analysis and identification of best practices carried out by various stakeholders, including civil society, UN agencies, governments, and other actors.
The side event will explore how the outputs of these different research processes could be more widely disseminated and used as the basis for building stakeholder capacities and promoting better quality VNRs.
It will produce a range of recommendations for the Member States and other stakeholders on how the quality of VNRs submitted to the HLPF can continue to be improved each year through the development of a more structured and integrated multi-stakeholder system of VNR-related research, reflection, exchange, and capacity building.
7:30 - 8:15 AM: First Panel | Promoting good practices around VNR reporting
Deirdre de Burca, Advocacy Coordinator at Forus (Moderator)
Ana de Oliveira, Research and Knowledge Management Officer at Cooperation Canada
Joern Geisselmann, Adviser at Partners for Review (Agenda 2030), German Development Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH
Arelys Bellorini, Senior United Nations Representative at World Vision International)
Q & A (15 minutes)
8:15 - 9:00 AM: Second Panel | Practical country examples: Governments linked with good practice on VNRs highlight their strengths and identify some of the gaps on the VNR processes
Andrew Griffiths, Head of Advocacy at Sightsavers (Moderator)
Martin Bille Hermann, Danish Ambassador to the United Nations
Speaker from the Government of Guatemala
Riccardo Messiano, Sustainable Development Officer at UN ESCAP
Q & A (15 minutes)
Additional downloads
Upcoming events
2026 Mining and Sustainability Forum of the Americas
The 2026 Mining and Sustainability Forum of the Americas takes place in Santiago, Chile on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. The forum’s theme is Mining for Development: Value addition and industrial transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
IGF 22nd Annual General Meeting
The 22nd IGF AGM will be held under the theme of Trust in an Interdependent World: Advancing inclusion and resilience in mineral value chains.
2026 Investment Policy Forum
The 17th edition of IISD's Investment Policy Forum will take place from September 16 to 18, 2026, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Foundations of Debt Sustainability: A training course bridging theory and practice
This course equips participants to critically assess and restore sovereign debt sustainability, design and implement effective fiscal frameworks, and engage meaningfully with international financial institutions. It is offered in partnership by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF).