IPU’s support to parliaments to strengthen their work on the SDGs: the self-assessment exercise and other activities

Briefing session
IPU’s support to parliaments to strengthen their work on the SDGs: the
self-assessment exercise and other activities
CONCEPT NOTE
Background
In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The accompanying resolution Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
acknowledges the essential role of national parliaments for the effective implementation of the goals. Under
the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), parliaments committed to translate the SDGs into
enforceable domestic law, hold governments accountable for the SDGs implementation, and align budgets
with national sustainable development plans.
The 2030 Agenda and its SDGs offer a unique framework that can help develop, implement and coordinate
policies towards the achievement of inclusive development. They can also help countries improve their
preparedness and response to the pandemic, and implement recovery plans that deliver social and
environmental sustainability in a comprehensive manner. The SDGs should be the foundation on which to
develop COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategies at all levels. Now more than ever, there is a need for
parliaments to strengthen their actions to effectively contribute to SDGs implementation.
In order to assist parliaments in engaging with the SDGs and contributing to their implementation, in 2016
the IPU and UNDP developed the self-assessment toolkit Parliaments and the Sustainable Development
Goals. The toolkit is designed to enable parliaments to identify good practices, gaps, opportunities and
lessons learned to effectively institutionalize and mainstream the various goals into parliamentary work. The
conclusions of the self-assessment exercise allow parliaments to set action priorities to strengthen their
response to the SDGs in all circumstances. Since October 2017, a number of parliaments have undertaken
the self-assessment exercise using the IPU-UNDP toolkit. Thanks to this process they have been able to
define their specific strategy or action plan to better deliver on the SDGs. Up to now, the SDGs self-
assessment toolkit has been translated into 13 languages, enabling greater ownership and appropriation by
national parliaments and making it the IPU's most translated publication.
Assisting parliaments in using the SDGs self-assessment toolkit and undertaking other capacity building
activities to strengthen actions for the implementation of the SDGs by 2030 is one of IPU’s priorities. Now
that the world has entered the final decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, parliaments
must be fit for purpose to effectively deliver on the SDGs and accelerate their efforts to reach their common
vision by 2030. The IPU promotes the implementation of the SDGs through a holistic approach that is
based on the interconnectedness of the Global Goals and focuses on their joint advancement. It also
concentrates on specific goals that are aligned with its core work and that are instrumental for the
implementation of the overall SDGs framework, namely health and climate change.
The IPU remains strongly committed to mobilizing parliaments to take action on the SDGs, and to providing
support, platforms, information and tools so they can carry out their work effectively despite the severe
challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the areas of health and climate change. For
example, the IPU in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme recently released the
Green Approaches to COVID-19 recovery: Policy note for parliamentarians which aims to help build
parliamentarians’ capacity to contribute to an environmentally-sustainable recovery post-pandemic that is
aligned with climate goals.
Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2020-21
IPU Alm.del - Bilag 26
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Objectives of the briefing session
The briefing session aims to:
1. Provide information on the IPU-UNDP self-assessment toolkit Parliaments and the Sustainable
Development Goals, and related exercise.
2. Provide information on capacity building activities to strengthen parliaments’ work on the SDGs, as well
as on virtual platforms to promote parliamentary exchanges and peer-to-peer learning.
3. Discuss the kind of support that can be provided in specific areas. In the area of health, support would
focus on universal health coverage and health emergency preparedness, with particular attention to
women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and barriers to access to health for vulnerable and
marginalized populations; in the area of climate change, support can be provided to parliamentarians on
strengthening climate legislation focused on clean and renewable energy and the implementation of green
COVID-19 recovery strategies.
4. Discuss how the IPU could provide support to parliaments in the SDGs area (on-site or virtually) during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Date: Thursday, 1 July 2021
Participation: The briefing session is open to all parliaments.
Languages: The working languages will be English, French and Spanish.
Virtual platform: Zoom
Registration : https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcvd-CorjorEtccbq40PtWnVZUPi66kA3Ww


Briefing session
IPU’s support to parliaments to strengthen their work on the SDGs: the
self-assessment exercise and other activities
Agenda
Virtual meeting (on Zoom)
Date: Thursday, 1 July 2021 Time: 14:00 – 15:00 CEST (Geneva)
14:00 Welcome
14:05 How the IPU provides support to parliaments in the SDGs domain
The briefing will offer parliaments the opportunity to acquire information on how the IPU
can help parliaments strengthen their work to effectively deliver on the SDGs, and how it
can tailor its support based on parliaments’ national contexts and COVID-19 health
measures currently in force. More specifically, participants will be provided with practical
information on how the IPU can help facilitate: the SDGs self-assessment exercise;
introductory and complementary activities to the SDGs self-assessment; capacity building
activities with focus on health (in relation to universal health coverage, health emergency
preparedness, and women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health) and climate change (for
example, on climate legislation, clean and renewable energy, a green COVID-19
recovery); as well as virtual parliamentary exchanges to discuss current challenges and
opportunities to contribute to SDGs realization.
14:20 Q&A
15:00 End of the briefing session
Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2020-21
IPU Alm.del - Bilag 26
Offentligt