UN Resolution. Enhancing the role of parliaments in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

To the Presidents of all IPU Groups
Geneva, 6 February 2023
Dear Madam President,
Dear Mr. President,
I am pleased to inform you that, in a historic first, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution
A/RES/77/159 “Enhancing the role of parliaments in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)” on 14 December 2022. This resolution recognizes the essential role of
national parliaments to bring the SDGs to life through their powers and clearly demonstrates
governments’ openness to enhance cooperation with them to fully implement the 2030 Agenda.
Uzbekistan, the initiator of the resolution, played a key role in mobilizing some 80 Member States to
sponsor the resolution. The IPU is very grateful to Uzbekistan and its authorities for their strong support.
In light of the severe negative impacts on all 17 SDGs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and related
crises, this resolution offers a precious opportunity to put the 2030 Agenda back on the right path and
accelerate its full realization, through enhanced commitment, dialogue and cooperation, especially
between key institutions such as governments and parliaments.
The resolution specifically welcomes the IPU’s work in support of national parliaments on the SDGs and
emphasizes the importance of parliamentary involvement in renewed commitment to unity, solidarity and
multilateral cooperation to support an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic and accelerating the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, while
advancing the full implementation of the SDGs.
I am very proud that, through the IPU 2022-2026 Strategy, Member Parliaments have not just reiterated
their political commitment to sustainable development but have also collectively decided that action
towards the overall achievement of the SDGs should be prioritized over the next five years. In order to
remain faithful to the pledges made, and effectively accelerate the achievement of all SDGs in a
balanced, coherent and integrated manner, I strongly encourage you to implement the provisions listed
in the resolution as a priority.
The IPU stands ready to provide its expertise and technical assistance at the national level to help
parliaments contribute substantially to sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic,
social and environmental. Furthermore, the IPU will continue to provide platforms through which
members of parliament and parliamentary staff can engage in mutual learning, sharing their experiences
and best practices to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
I hope I can count on your steadfast collaboration to implement the abovementioned resolution and
conduct the necessary actions within your mandate to successfully deliver on the SDGs by 2030.
We will be pleased to publish any information you will provide on your parliament’s follow up to this
important resolution.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Chungong
Secretary General
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Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2022-23 (2. samling)


United Nations A/RES/77/159
General Assembly Distr.: General
20 December 2022
22-28775 (E) 271222
*2228775*
Seventy-seventh session
Agenda item 18
Sustainable development
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly
on 14 December 2022
[on the report of the Second Committee (A/77/443, para. 32)]
77/159. Enhancing the role of parliaments in accelerating the achievement
of the Sustainable Development Goals
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming its resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming
our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which it adopted a
comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative
Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its commitment to working tirelessly for
the full implementation of the Agenda by 2030, its recognition that eradicating
poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest
global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, its
commitment to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions –
economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner, and to
building upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seeking
to address their unfinished business,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
grounded in international law and the principle of leaving no one behind,
Recognizing the essential role of national parliaments and parliaments at other
levels, where they exist, through their enactment of legislation and adoption of
budgets and their role in ensuring accountability for the effective implementation of
their commitments,
Recalling its resolution 76/270 of 21 June 2022 on interaction between the
United Nations, national parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in which it
recognized the actions and contributions of parliaments at the national, regional and
global levels, including through multi-stakeholder partnerships, in support of the
accelerated achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,
Highlighting the importance of women’s full, equal and meaningful
participation in parliaments, including in leadership positions and in decision-making
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Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2022-23 (2. samling)
A/RES/77/159
Enhancing the role of parliaments in accelerating the achievement
of the Sustainable Development Goals
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at all levels, and the importance for parliaments to mainstream a gender perspective
in their work,
Acknowledging the role and responsibility of parliaments with regard to national
plans and strategies aimed at fully implementing the 2030 Agenda, as well as in ensuring
greater transparency and accountability at both the national and the global levels,
Taking note of Economic and Social Council resolution 2017/23 of 7 July 2017,
in which the Council encouraged all Governments to inform and engage their
parliaments in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, while noting that some
parliaments have taken a proactive role in their implementation,
Taking into account the first Global Parliamentary Meeting on Achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals, held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the House
of Representatives of Indonesia in September 2021, on “Turning the challenges of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic into opportunities for parliaments to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, and looking forward to further
engagement to bring parliaments together at a critical time to support the achievement
of the Goals,
Noting with great concern the severe negative impact on human health, safety
and well-being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the severe disruption
to societies and economies and the devastating impact on lives and livelihoods, and
that the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit by the pandemic, reaffirming
the ambition to get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by
designing and implementing sustainable and inclusive recovery strategies to
accelerate progress towards the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and to help to reduce the risk of and build resilience to
future shocks, crises and pandemics, including by strengthening health systems and
achieving universal health coverage, and recognizing that equitable and timely access
for all to safe, quality, effective and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and
diagnostics are an essential part of a global response based on unity, solidarity,
renewed multilateral cooperation and the principle of leaving no one behind,
Emphasizing that success in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and
the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions depends on the creation of
enabling environments at all levels,
Mindful that rapid technological change includes new and powerful tools that
can help to realize the vision of the 2030 Agenda, and that the spread of information
and communications technologies and global interconnectedness has great potential
to accelerate human development and bridge all digital divides, among and within
countries, including the gender digital divide, and recognizing that national
parliaments, among others, play an important role in addressing the impact,
opportunities and challenges of rapid technological change,
Welcoming the work carried out, at the request of Member States, by the
agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system and by the
Inter-Parliamentary Union and other international organizations of parliamentarians
in support of national parliaments around the world in mobilizing action towards the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third
International Conference on Financing for Development,1
the Sendai Framework for
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1
Resolution 69/313, annex.
Enhancing the role of parliaments in accelerating the achievement
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Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030,2
the Paris Agreement3
and the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action,4
1. Emphasizes the importance of parliamentary involvement in renewed
commitment to unity, solidarity and multilateral cooperation to support an inclusive,
sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating the
decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, leaving no one behind,
while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development;5
2. Encourages parliaments to assess the contribution of their countries’
existing national legal frameworks to the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals and targets, acknowledging that the Goals are integrated and
indivisible and that policy coherence is key in achieving the 2030 Agenda as a whole;
3. Encourages Member States to promote the engagement and support of
parliaments in the follow-up and review processes of the achievement of the
Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the preparation of voluntary national
reviews, in order to ensure and strengthen national ownership and accountability;
4. Welcomes the practice of including parliamentarians as members of
national delegations to major United Nations meetings and events, as appropriate,
including the high-level political forum on sustainable development, and invites
Member States to continue this practice in a more regular and systematic manner, and
with due consideration given to achieving gender balance within such delegations;
5. Acknowledges that a strong and constructive relationship between
parliaments and independent oversight bodies is important for improving the
effectiveness of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and
encourages parliaments to ensure that their oversight mechanisms are well structured
and have appropriate resources and equipment, as well as access to expertise and
resources, to ensure qualified monitoring and evaluation of national development
plans and strategies aimed at fully implementing the 2030 Agenda;
6. Encourages public awareness of parliamentary processes and opportunities
for public engagement in monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda;
7. Underscores the importance of analytical support to parliamentarians on
the respective government budget proposal to enable effective financing for achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals;
8. Encourages Member States, including their parliaments, to place gender
equality and the empowerment of women at the centre of their efforts to accelerate
progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and promote the full, equal and
meaningful participation and representation of women in parliaments and their
processes, including by considering the promotion of legislation and parliamentarian
working methods that are gender-responsive and prevent all forms of violence and
discrimination against women;
9. Calls upon Member States to ensure that laws, mechanisms and the
parliament buildings are inclusive and accessible to encourage and empower persons
with disabilities to participate in political and public life;
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2
Resolution 69/283, annex II.
3
Adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in
FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, decision 1/CP.21, annex.
4
Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
5
Resolution 70/1.
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10. Recognizes the value and the contribution of youth to the full and
successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and therefore recommends that
parliaments seek ways to achieve the full, equal and meaningful participation of youth
in parliamentary processes, as appropriate, related to the achievement of the
Sustainable Development Goals;
11. Encourages communication among parliaments, including within the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, to work closely to support national, regional and
international efforts to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions –
economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner;
12. Calls upon Member States to promote the leadership role of parliaments
in accelerating the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals in a
balanced and integrated manner, reaffirming the commitment to achieving sustainable
development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – and
encourages the United Nations to work with Member States, upon their request, on
strengthening the institutional capacity of parliaments in this regard;
13. Recommends inter-parliamentary cooperation, including through the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, to inspire ambitious collective plans, enhance mutual
learning and sharing of best practices, enhance knowledge-sharing and awareness-
raising among parliamentarians and generate momentum to support the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
53rd plenary meeting
14 December 2022