Harnessing SDG Interlinkages through the VNR: Best Practices from the Regions
Voluntary National Review (VNR) Lab
Hosted by the United Nations Regional Economic Commissions
at the 2025 High Level Political Forum
Tuesday 22 July, 2-3pm
Room S-1522-23
United Nations Headquarters, Secretariat Building. New York
As the world turns the corner to the final five years of the 2030 Agenda, it has become clear that impactful and coordinated approaches are needed in order to ‘rescue’ the SDGs and ensure that the global community reaches its objectives for inclusive and sustainable development. Countries now have ten years’ experience in undertaking Voluntary National Reviews – or VNRs – of their frameworks and policies in place to encourage progress towards these objectives. The VNR plays an important galvanizing role in bringing together national and local governments, civil society, young people, women, the private sector, academia and other key stakeholders to take stock of progress and challenges, and plot out an achievable path forward. It has become clear that such a broad coalition is key to ensure coordination, synchronized efforts based on the reality on-the-ground, and the harnessing of resources to reach the 2030 Agenda
Aims and Objectives
The broad aims of the VNR lab hosted by the UN Regional Commissions is to put a spotlight on the progress and innovative approaches being adopted across the regions, bringing in specific country cases and examples, and also harnessing the expertise held by the Regional Commissions themselves in supporting Sustainable Development and the SDGs. The lab has peer learning and exchange at its heart, which is an area that member States have indicated is an important role that the Commissions uniquely provide, in order to bring solutions from across the world to bear on the challenges that still persist.
Specific objectives of this lab include:
- Incorporating interlinkages visually and narratively in their processes
- framing synergies and tradeoffs constructively and with a view to building a concrete roadmap forward
- addressing interlinkages both between SDGs and between SDG targets, and with other regional frameworks and national development plans in place
- integrating SDG Interlinkage tools into the data analysis process
- Focusing on intergenerational linkages as an important area to ensure the success of the VNR in instilling lasting change
- Sharing UN support mechanisms to achieve these objectives.