What is my government doing to implement the SDGs?

In practice this is not always the case. Often, in those states with the greatest ‘peace and prevention needs’ the government is unwilling or unable to follow-up on its commitments to SDG 16+. 

How do you know what your government has already been doing on the SDGs? 

• Look at the database of the official SDG reviews - if your country submitted one, key government initiatives will be highlighted. But they might draw a rosy picture, hence a critical assessment of the review is needed.

• Look at the national development plan or sectoral plans like National Action Plan on 1325 and check if they refer to the SDGs directly or if they have specific areas that could directly contribute to the SDG agenda.   

As GPPAC, we recommend that governments enter into wide, systematic and deep SDG 16+ partnerships with CSOs for policy development, implementation and monitoring, including the VNR. In the process, governments must ensure that CSOs are adequately resourced, informed and equipped to play these roles, for example by formally including diverse CSOs throughout the whole VNR process.

Find out more

• Look here for examples and stories of how countries around the world have localised  the SDGs and how they are implementing and tracking them.

• And this research provides examples of how different countries have gone about planning and coordinating the SDG implementation as well as challenges and opportunities they faced. This can be a useful starting point for developing arguments for your government to engage in such a process at sectoral or national level.