Five years after the adoption of the 2030 and Addis Agendas, mobilization of sufficient finance remains a critical challenge in most countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has further undermined fiscal and external balances, threatening countries’ prospects for timely achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Integrated national financing frameworks (INFFs), a planning and delivery framework to help countries finance sustainable development and the SDGs, can be a valuable tool in helping to formulate a comprehensive strategy for recovery – one that is aligned with the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and that is sustainably financed. The Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development (IATF) set out key features and steps to operationalize the INFFs for the SDGs in the 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR). INFFs are a tool for governments to (i) align financing policies with national sustainable development priorities, and (ii) strengthen the links between planning processes (such as National Sustainable Development Strategies or national development plans) and financing policies. INFFs can also help Governments bring together and better utilize the wide range of support measures on SDG financing provided by the international community. Ultimately, they can help them raise resources to implement national development plans and finance the SDGs. The project brings together existing capacity and policy support for SDG financing by implementing entities in an integrated offer to target countries. The project addresses capacity gaps identified by target countries in one or more of the four building blocks spelled out in the 2019 FSDR, namely,  to provide support in the assessment and diagnostics phase, e.g. on costing of priorities in national strategies, in the formulation of a financing strategy, in monitoring and review mechanisms, and/ or governance arrangements. The project puts a substantive focus on two elements of a financing strategy in particular, in line with country priorities, and with a view to building back better: mobilizing financing for productive investments in recovery and the SDGs (such as SME or infrastructure financing, sustainable financial sector development, and the role of national and regional development banks); and aligning public financing policies and mechanisms with the SDGs and climate action (such as SDG budgeting, taxation and environmental finance). It will also create spaces for peer learning, making use of existing platforms at the regional level. Success would be demonstrated by identification and implementation of financing policy initiatives and mechanisms to finance the SDGs in selected countries.

Frontier technologies carry a promise to fast track the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through supporting innovative, forwarding-looking policies and solutions. There are, however, numerous risks and complexities of digital technologies that come along with those opportunities, as well as policy and regulatory challenges. In recent years, relatively new approaches of policy experimentation and regulatory sandboxes have emerged among countries, and have proven to be effective in creating a more conducive and contained space where governments, in partnerships with relevant stakeholders, can experiment and trial with digital technologies and innovations at the edge or even outside of the existing policy space and regulatory framework. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only brought about unprecedented challenges to sustainable development, but have also accelerated digital government and digital transformation in many areas.  At the same time, the pandemic has exposed harsh fragilities and digital divides especially for countries in special situations. The objective of this Project is to enhance the institutional capacity of selected countries in special situations, namely the: (i)  least developed countries (LDCs); (ii) landlocked developing countries (LLDC); and (iii) small island developing States (SIDS), to understand and develop policy experimentation and/or regulatory sandboxes on new technologies as an innovative and catalytic approach to accelerate the progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The evidence of the result, if achieved, will include target countries having demonstrated ability to identify and establish the means for policy experimentation and/or regulatory sandboxes, that may also translate into policy documents or implementation strategies, in draft or working versions, including through multi-stakeholder engagement with the private sector and the civil society.  The project will be jointly implemented by the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division (IDD) of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).  

The project aims at enhancing the capacity of the target groups in the following selected countries in Africa: Angola, Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe to engage in constructive policy dialogues and/or participatory mechanisms, with a view to develop strategies and initiatives to advance inclusive development and SDG achievement for indigenous peoples in the framework of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Through capacity building of both national and local governments and indigenous leaders, the project aims to promote the participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes at all levels, with a special focus at the local level, where the most vulnerable indigenous peoples live. The project also intends to enhance the capacity of governments to develop and implement policies, programmes and legislation that recognize and respect indigenous peoples’ development priorities and rights, that include their full and effective participation in national socio-economic development policies, enhancing dialogue mechanisms among indigenous peoples, the government and UNCTs. The project also aims to strengthen the capacities of stakeholders in targeted countries to engage in those processes, as well as to work in the implementation of national action plans, policies and measures on the Declaration.