A major obstacle to the integration of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development was a “silo” mentality among stakeholders, especially among politicians and institutions, a panellist told the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on 30 June as it continued its 2015 annual session with two panels that explored policymaking in the post-2015 era.

Breaking silos and helping stakeholders to see their contributions to particular goals in an integrated manner was important, said Patrick Birungi, Director of National Planning Authority at the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Economic Development of Uganda, during a panel discussion titled “Changing approaches to policy making: the role of the sustainable development goals”.

The discussion explored the best ways to integrate sustainable development policymaking at all levels. It also examined the opportunities for or barriers to integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development.

In his country, Mr. Birungi said, institutions were set up in silos with their own mandates and “territories” and were resistant to change. A coordinated mechanism for implementation and monitoring was needed, but unfortunately it was difficult to change the mind-set of political leadership.

Karel J.G. van Oosterom (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the Chair of the sixty-sixth session of the Economic Commission for Europe, stressed the crucial role of youth, as they were both the main beneficiaries and actors in implementing the post-2015 agenda.

Jaroslava Jermanová, Vice-President of the Czech Republic Parliament, underscored the importance of a proper assessment of future development strategies and effective practical actions.

In the afternoon, the Forum held a panel on “Regional support to national action”, in which policy experts from Africa, Asia and La Francophonie noted that once the new agenda was adopted, national reviews of implementation in developed and developing countries, as well as thematic reviews, would be carried out starting in 2016. They explored ways for regional platforms to support national implementation of the sustainable development goals, notably as forums for exchanging national experiences and lessons learned, as well as discussing broader regional trends, cross-border concerns and policy coherence.

The Forum, established by a decision in the outcome document of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also heard opinions from the floor, with several representatives of Member States and major stakeholder groups noting a lack of disaggregated data, national legislation, financial resources, governmental capacity and adequate indicators as obstacles to integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development.

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High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2015

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development under the auspices of ECOSOC is meeting from Friday, 26 June through Wednesday, 8 July 2015. The ministerial segment will be from Monday, 6 July, through Wednesday, 8 July 2015. The forum will debate the theme: “Strengthening integration, implementation and review – the HLPF after 2015”.

A major focus will thus be the role of the forum and ways to implement its functions in following up on and reviewing the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

The meeting will occur at a time when the negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda will be reaching their final stage. It takes particular significance as sustainable development goals will be at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda. The forum will thus be able to advance the discussions on how best to review progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the overall agenda, and its important role in this regard.

The meeting will also reflect on integrated policies to move towards more sustainable development paths. Also on the forum’s agenda are the overall follow up to Rio+20 and the Samoa Conference on SIDS, sustainable consumption and production, strengthening the science-policy interface, countries in special situations, and regional dimensions.

The discussions will draw from the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR). In the 2015 edition, scientists will bring some new issues to the attention of policy makers. They will also assess whether the SDGs are appropriately covered by models and international assessments.

The meeting will allow a debate between Governments, UN system and other organizations, scientists, major groups and other stakeholders of civil society.