Who is leading SDG implementation within a country/ government?

They sometimes offer space for other partners, such as civil society and the private sector to join or have established formal relationships with CSO networks for their input or overview. 

For CSOs these entities are crucial to engage as they play a leading role in the development of SDG related policies and  implementation or integration of the SDGs. Look at TAP Network’s Accountability Handbook section on ‘connecting with government bodies’ for more.

If your government does not have such a coordination mechanism and focal point yet (check the ‘focal point’ tab under your member state section here) it can be very useful to advocate for one. We have a toolkit, which helps you develop an advocacy strategy, if you want to see how, get in touch with us. 

For 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.

• This OECD 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.

• While these two CSO lead researches from 2018 and 2017 outline the SDG governance and institutional arrangements of countries presenting VNRs that year.