Giving Compass' Take:

• The United Nations Foundation releases details from the UN High-Level Political Forum, a virtual discussion surrounding COVID-19 and the SDGs.

• How has COVID-19 disrupted the implementation of the sustainable development goals? How has it revealed preexisting concerns surrounding global development? 

• Learn more about the importance of the SDGs in the battle with coronavirus.

2020 was officially designated as the start of the Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Enter COVID-19. Across the globe, governments and other stakeholders have been forced to reset their development priorities and the global community has been facing the deepest crisis in a century, the depths of which are yet to be fully comprehended. It was against this backdrop that the global community got together — virtually, this time — at the annual High-level Political Forum (HLPF) to assess how far we have come toward meeting the SDGs.

The SDGs are our common road map for global development, a global public good for all to use. An ominous tone for the HLPF deliberations was set by the findings of the annual SDG progress report and the new report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition, which made clear we were not on the right path even before COVID-19, which has halted or reversed much of the progress. The pandemic has laid bare global and systemic inequalities and is hitting the most vulnerable people the hardest.

The Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) — the national implementation and progress plans for the SDGs — highlighted the challenges presented by COVID-19 and areas where SDG progress is threatened. Reallocation of resources is especially necessary in developing countries, creating new barriers and stressors on national and international systems.

But both the Secretary-General and the stakeholders also told a more encouraging version of this narrative, which offers an opportunity to restore hope and to Build Back Better and right many of the mistakes of the past by massively investing in a sustainable and just future where no one is left behind.

Read the full article about the UN High-Level Political Forum by at United Nations Foundation.