The Office of Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development (OISC/DESA) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), United Nations is continuously developing its programme of capacity development related to the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) with a view to strengthen the capacities of countries presenting their VNR at the high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) in 2022 and 2023.

The voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. As stipulated in paragraph 84 of the 2030 Agenda, regular reviews by the HLPF are to be voluntary, state-led, undertaken by both developed and developing countries, and involve multiple stakeholders. Participation during the actual presentations of the VNRs by various countries provides valuable opportunities when lessons, experiences and solutions from the different presenters are shared, allowing the countries’ participants to learn, bring these lessons learned/experiences/solutions back 

to their countries, try them out, and adapt them to their situation in their efforts to implement their plans. VNRs are also mandated to lead to the launching of partnerships. At the 2016 HLPF - the first HLPF since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs - 22 countries conducted voluntary reviews. Since this first VNR exercise, the number of countries conducting VNRs has steadily grown. Out of 45 countries that will be presenting their VNRs at 2022 HLPF under the auspices of ECOSOC, there are 12 first time presenters, 28 second time presenters, 3 third time presenters and 2 fourth time presenters. For the 2023 HLPF, it is expected that 30 – 40 countries will conduct their VNRs. The preparations of the VNRs thus provide the opportunity for countries to review the range of policies and efforts related to the 2030 Agenda. VNRs also provide a unique opportunity to drive institutional change towards ‘whole-of-government’ and ‘whole-of-society’ approaches and to bolster capacity-building at the national level to implement the 2030 Agenda. The workshops will provide capacity building support for countries presenting their VNRs by allowing peer learning on core issues related to adapting policies and institutions to the SDGs, and sharing lessons learned from the VNRs for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It will provide the opportunity for VNR countries to learn from each other and facilitate future peer learning amongst government officials. The first stage of the project will focus on organizing the Second Global VNR Workshop to be held in Gaborone, Botswana (11 – 12 April 2022). At the second stage of the project, the First Global VNR Workshop for 2023 will be organized in Italy (October 2022). It is proposed that a total budget of US$ 220,000.00 be provided for this project for related contractual services, general operating and other direct costs and travel expenses.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, calls for special attention be given to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), as they face unique vulnerabilities in their pursuit of sustainable development. A key request from the outcome of the 2014 Third International Conference on SIDS - the SAMOA Pathway - was the establishment of the SIDS Partnership Framework, designed to monitor progress of existing, and stimulate the launch of new, genuine and durable partnerships for the sustainable development of SIDS. Guided by a member States driven Steering Committee, the framework has since its launch ensured that SIDS partnerships have remained high on the UN’s agenda, providing a multi-stakeholder platform for reviewing progress made by SIDS partnerships, and for sharing of good practices and lessons learned among all stakeholders, on an annual basis.There is a need to ensure the monitoring process of SIDS partnerships includes all relevant stakeholders. In addition, to ensuring sustainability and longevity, it is crucial to raise the capacity of stakeholders in SIDS in developing and forging new, genuine and durable partnerships. Member states have called upon UN DESA and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) to enhance the necessary analytical and advocacy support for the work of the Steering Committee, and, in particular, to ensure an annual action-oriented, results-focused Global Multi-Stakeholder Small Island Developing States Partnership Dialogue.

The project is expected to result in an in-depth analysis of existing SIDS partnerships, a strengthened process for monitoring of SIDS partnerships on national, regional and global level, and an increased capacity of all relevant stakeholders in the development of durable multi-stakeholder partnerships for SIDS.

The project will be carried out by the Division for Sustainable Development Goals of UN DESA through a broad and inclusive consultation process with SIDS and relevant experts and stakeholders.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an agenda for prosperity, peace and partnership. It sets out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which jointly constitutes a comprehensive plan of action to eradicate poverty and ensure sustainable development. The SDGs include a first-ever universal goal on energy (SDG7) that calls to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all" with targets on universal energy access, renewable energy, energy efficiency and means of implementation. The objective of this project is to enhance capacities, dialogues and South-South cooperation in support of effective review, follow-up and implementation of SDG7 in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In view of the first global review of the SDG7 at the High Level Political Forum in 2018, this project will also be designed to leverage the HLPF for enhancing partnerships and South-South cooperation, with a special attention to energy’s interlinkages with other SDGs. The project will be implemented by the Division for Sustainable Development, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), in collaboration with relevant UN organizations, for an initial period of two years.

The project aims at protecting and broadening the tax base of developing countries in Africa by strengthening the capacity of their National Tax Administrations (NTAs) and Ministries of Finance (MoFs) to effectively apply double tax treaties, drawing on the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries (UN Model). This will help improve the investment climate and combat tax evasion, and thus increase tax revenues for investment in sustainable development. During the first phase of the project, a group of international tax experts will produce a draft of an updated and expanded revision of the United Nations Handbook on Selected Issues in Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries (the Handbook), drawing on the latest experiences and pressing concerns of developing countries on tax base protection issues, as expressed by representatives of NTAs and MoFs in recently held meetings and workshops organized by FfDO. To operationalize the guidance contained in the Handbook and make it accessible to a broader audience of stakeholders in developing countries, the experts will complement the revised Handbook with hands-on toolkits, called Practical Portfolios, on relevant tax base protection topics. Feedback and inputs on the revision and expansion of the Handbook, as well as on the Practical Portfolios, will be sought through the capacity development Workshop on Double Tax Treaties and Base Eroding Payments for Developing Countries. This activity will take place in Nairobi in the first quarter of 2017 and benefit from additional sources of UN funding (including through the United Nations Development Account project No. 1415A). The workshop will aim at increasing awareness and understanding of the UN Model among tax officials in NTAs and MoFs of developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and offer an ideal opportunity to discuss relevant BEPS-related issues covered in the Handbook and in the Practical Portfolios.
A second Workshop on Practical Issues in Protecting the Tax Base of Developing Countries will take place in Addis Ababa in the third quarter of 2017, with a view to further strengthen the capacity of NTAs and MoFs officials from Sub-Saharan African countries. The final updated edition of the Handbook and the Practical Portfolios will be officially launched on the occasion of this workshop.

The need to support countries formulating policies and strategies for MSME resilience has been recognized by the General Assembly resolution A/RES/74/270 . In the Secretary-General’s report ‘Shared responsibility, global solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic’ , supporting MSMEs is outlined as a focus area to tackle socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporting MSMEs and informal workers is also included as one of the five pillars in the UN Framework for the Immediate Socioeconomic Response to the COVID-19 crisis . In this context, this project aims to formulate enabling policy environments and strengthen capacities of policymakers and MSME entrepreneurs to enhance MSME resilience to external shocks and risks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, in Cambodia, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. The project will improve the capacity of policymakers to plan and implement coherent policy mechanisms promoting MSME resilience. It will also strengthen MSME entrepreneurial capacities for resilience and competitiveness for the inclusive and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. To upscale impact and sustainability, the project will forge extensive partnerships within and across target countries. It will pursue synergies with regional MSME supporting strategies such as the African Union SMEs Strategy and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group Strategic Plan for 2021-2024, in addition to pursuing coherent interventions with MSME supporting programmes of government departments, UN Country Teams and development partners in target countries. 

Data and related issues and developments in the public sector have become increasingly important in terms of government analysis and operations, academic research, and real-world applicability and acceptance. Data are now integral to every sector and function of government—as essential as physical assets and human resources. Much of the operational activity in government is now data-driven, and many Governments would find it difficult, if not impossible, to function effectively without data

This project seeks to address existing challenges and gaps in digital data management and cooperation, focusing on enhancing the institutional capacities of countries to utilize, manage and govern data in a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based manner, through regional and global cooperation. The project will build on the momentum of recent initiatives, including the Initiative on Partnership for Africa's Development. 

To this end, the project will support African countries, LDCs and SIDS to assess key data management and governance challenges and strengthen government officials’ and stakeholders’ knowledge of sound and secure data management, working closely with UN RCOs and UNCTs; support national and regional initiatives in fostering an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for digital data cooperation through mutual benefit, win-win outcomes and common development; support countries in developing institutional capacities for developing national digital data policies and strategies for ensuring data quality, access, security, privacy and usage, and for promoting data security through consultation, collaboration and shared benefits; make available relevant legislative information and toolkits for advancing digital data cooperation agreements through case studies.

The objective of the Project is enhancing the institutional capacities of government officials and stakeholders in Asian and African countries, in particular the LDCs and SIDS, for digital data management, data governance and data cooperation to achieve mutual benefit, win-win outcomes and common development.



 

Countries face common challenges in moving from siloed elaboration and implementation of policies to the formulation of integrated policies reflecting the interrelations across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and addressing cross-cutting sustainable development issues such as poverty eradication, climate change and food security. To realize the vision of the Agenda 2030 of leaving no one behind and to ensure inclusive development, countries will also need to ensure more inclusive, accountable and participatory policymaking and public service delivery. This requires, among other things, organizing government and related institutions engaged in SDG implementation and making them effective, inclusive and accountable. It also calls for strengthening public servants’ capacity to implement the SDGs through the development of new skills, attitudes and behaviors and through new ways of working together across organizational boundaries.
The objective of the Project 1819G is to strengthen the capacity of selected developing countries in Africa and Asia in organizing and mobilizing their institutions and public servants to enhance effectiveness and institutional coordination, public accountability, and engagement of key stakeholders in the implementation and review of the SDGs. The project is structured around two expected accomplishments, namely: (i) Improved capacity of beneficiary countries to mobilize public institutions and build their capacities for SDG implementation and review, according to country-specific circumstances and priorities, as well as ensure public accountability and engagement of key stakeholders; (ii) Enhanced capacity of beneficiary countries to formulate strategies and policies to strengthen the technical capability and skills of civil servants to support SDG implementation and review. Recipient countries will also be encouraged to participate and present their findings during the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), as well as to take part in other related divisional capacity development workshops.

All governments from developing countries confront the challenge of designing coherent policies that can simultaneously accelerate growth, reduce poverty and inequality, preserve and improve the environment, and help adapt/mitigate to climate change. To successfully achieve these objectives, countries need both i) sound institutional arrangements for policy integration; and ii) quantitative analytical capacities to assess policy options. The ultimate aim is to foster a cohesive policy formulation process that incorporates development objectives across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
In response to the Government requests from Cameroon, Ethiopia and Senegal, this project aims to support policy coherence through stronger inter-agency collaboration and coordination, while building integrated assessment methodologies and capacities to address the interlinkages and tradeoffs among policies, goals and the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. A climate, land-use, energy and water systems integrated assessment (CLEWS), including socio-economic aspects, will be developed in each country within the framework of improved cooperation among institutions and public administration and integrated whole-of-government approaches. Capacity building activities will be provided to government officials, in order to address the challenges and particular policy scenarios discussed with official government counterparts, to inform evidence-based policy discussions.
The Project will result in enhanced institutional capacity and inter-agency cooperation within target countries for developing integrated approaches and tools to support evidence-based policy-making to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project seeks to strengthen the capacity of NTAs and MoFs in developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Africa to negotiate and apply double tax treaties, drawing on the UN Model, and to formulate inputs into the policy making processes influencing the way double tax treaties are negotiated and re-negotiated to the benefit of developing countries. The main focus of the first phase of the project will be the delivery of the UN Course on Double Tax Treaties with a view to increasing awareness and understanding of the UN Model among MoF and NTA officials of broad number of developing countries in the two regions. During the second phase of the project, tax treaty negotiators will strengthen their negotiating skills and techniques enabling them to conclude treaties, which would be beneficial to both treaty partners, through participation in the UN-OECD Practical Workshop on Negotiation of Tax Treaties. Administrators of tax treaties in 4 pilot countries will be assisted, through national seminars and follow-up country missions, with a view to implementing the necessary policy changes in order to enable a more effective application of double-tax treaties and thereby to improve the investment climate in the country. The third phase of the project will focus on institutionalizing this capacity development programme in the regions with the view of passing the ownership of the relevant knowledge and tools, as well as the administration of the programme to regional experts and regional tax organizations.