Finansudvalget 2019-20
FIU Alm.del Bilag 236
Offentligt
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22 June 2020
Information note on the arrangements for the 2020 High-level Political Forum
and the High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council
(7-17 July 2020)
I.
Programme and format
High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
1.
The meetings of the 2020 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will
be organized in an informal virtual format due to the situation created by the coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The theme for the 2020 HLPF and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is “Accelerated
action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable
development”.
(GA decision 74/508)
The decade of action and delivery for sustainable development was launched by Heads of
State and Government at the SDG Summit in September 2019 in order to step up progress
towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and put the world on track to realize their
targets by 2030. (General Assembly resolution 74/4)
The 2020 HLPF will take stock of where we stand on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda,
taking into account the impact of COVID-19 on the SDGs. It will reflect on how to respond to
the pandemic in a way that puts us back on track to realize the 2030 Agenda and accelerate
progress towards the SDGs for the coming ten years. It will discuss international solidarity
and multilateral action to realize the 2030 Agenda at this time of crises.
The programme of the 2020 HLPF and the High-level Segment of ECOSOC
is
available
on
the
HLPF
2020
website
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020.
The
annotated
programme
is
also
available
at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#programme.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Thematic sessions
6.
Thematic sessions of the HLPF will be held from 7 to 10 July 2020. Several sessions have
been prepared through virtual expert consultations led by the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and UN system organizations and other partners. Background
notes outlining the expected focus and guiding questions for each session may be accessed
online at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#programme. The thematic
sessions will be conducted in the format of interactive dialogue.
A large number of the functional commissions of ECOSOC and other intergovernmental
bodies and forums, as well as other actors have provided inputs to contribute to the thematic
review of the HLPF and the synthesis of these inputs is available at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26122E_HLPF_2020_4.pdf
.
7.
Voluntary National Reviews
8.
From 10 to 16 July, the HLPF will hear presentations of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs)
by 47 countries, 26 of which are presenting for the first time.
A schedule of the presentations is available as part of the HLPF programme posted on the
2020
HLPF
website.
All
VNR
reports
will
be
posted
online
at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/
as they are received.
9.
10. A compilation of main messages for the 2020 VNRs is available on the 2020 HLPF website at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26196Compilation_Main_Mes
sages_VNRs.pdf.
11. The VNRs will be organized as follows: countries presenting a VNR for the second or third
time will present in a panel format along with other VNR countries presenting for the second
or third time. Twenty minutes will be allocated per country, comprising a ten-minute
presentation and approximately ten minutes for questions and answers.
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12. For countries that are presenting a VNR for the first time, thirty minutes will be allocated per
country, comprising a fifteen-minute presentation and approximately fifteen minutes for
questions and answers.
13. Given the virtual nature of the meetings, VNR countries have also chosen whether to present
their VNR via livestreaming or through pre-recorded presentations.
14. All VNRs are expected to be presented at the Ministerial or similar level.
15. During the allotted time for questions and answers, there will be the opportunity for a limited
number of questions and comments by participating States and stakeholders. At the end of
the session, the VNR countries will be given a few minutes to respond to the interventions
made. In case of lack of time, written responses can also be provided.
16. For those countries that have opted for a pre-recorded presentation, the Secretariat will
invite Member States and other stakeholders to submit questions and comments on the VNR
ahead of the presentation, based on the country’s written report, so that the VNR country can
address the questions in the video. Should this prove not to be possible, questions will be
asked live or in writing, and written responses are encouraged following the HLPF session.
Those will be made available at the VNR country page in the HLPF VNR online data base at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/.
17. Following the practice introduced at the 2019 HLPF, the President of ECOSOC has encouraged
countries to participate in the Group of “Friends of VNRs” to prepare HLPF discussions on
each VNR. The Chair of the Group of Friends is the Deputy Permanent Representative of
Mexico (please contact the focal point at the Mexican mission at e-mail [email protected]).
This arrangement does not preclude States that do not participate in the Group of Friends
from requesting the floor on any VNR.
18. Major Groups and other stakeholders will self-organize to intervene during the VNR sessions.
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High-Level Segment of ECOSOC
19. The last day of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC on Friday, 17 July 2020, will include a high-
level discussion on “Multilateralism
after COVID 19: what kind of UN do we need at the 75th
anniversary?”.
The session will reflect on the kind of multilateralism needed to deliver a
forward looking and effective collective response to global crises such as COVID-19 and long-
term challenges such as climate change, while accelerating progress towards the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
20. A further one-hour session will be dedicated to future trends and scenarios related to the
theme of the Council and HLPF in 2020 and the long-term impact of current trends, on the
realization of the SDGs, to be discussed in the context of recovering better after the COVID-
19 crisis. This is consistent with the mandate contained in General Assembly resolution
72/305.
General debate
21. Due to this year’s virtual nature of the HLPF and the High-level Segment of ECOSOC, the
participating States and other participants are invited to provide written general statement
for posting on the ECOSOC and HLPF websites and in e-deleGATE. Statements should be sent
to the Secretariat ([email protected]). In addition, recordings of the statements may be
submitted to be posted on the HLPF website.
Informal meetings and events
VNR Labs
22. A set of informal VNR Labs are planned to be held virtually from 7 to 16 July 2020. In view of
the current global situation, the Labs are held under the theme of “Recovering
Better”.
A
programme of all VNR Labs
is available on the 2020 HLPF website at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#labs.
Three Labs will allow to deepen
the discussion on the VNR of specific countries and the others will address themes cutting
across several VNRs.
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Side events and exhibitions
23. Side events and exhibitions are also scheduled to be organized virtually on the margins of the
HLPF. All those who applied and are approved will be included in the calendar of HLPF events
to be posted on the 2020 HLPF website, and more information is available at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#other.
Special events
24. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN
DESA) and its partner agencies and organizations will also organize
special virtual events on the margins of the HLPF. More information is
available
at
the
HLPF
website
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#other
and
at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/262782020
_Special_Event_Flyer.pdf.
II.
Outcome
Ministerial Declaration
25. The co-facilitators of the Ministerial Declaration, His Excellency Georgi Velikov Panayotov,
Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the United Nations, and Her Excellency Amal
Mudallali, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, are in the process of
facilitating informal virtual consultations on the Ministerial Declaration of ECOSOC and the
HLPF on the basis of the zero draft circulated on 27 May 2020 and in accordance with the
timeline provided in the letter of the co-facilitators dated 8 May 2020. It is expected that
adoption of the Ministerial Declaration will be conducted through silence procedure, unless
other arrangements are put in place before the HLPF and High-level Segment of ECOSOC. A
ceremonial “adoption” of the Ministerial Declaration is foreseen in the draft programme at
the closing of the HLPF on 16 July 2020 and the closing of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC
on 17 July 2020.
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Summary of the President of ECOSOC
26. The President of ECOSOC will also prepare a summary to capture the key messages of the
discussions of the HLPF and the High-level Segment of ECOSOC. The summary will be issued
after the meeting.
SDG Acceleration Actions
27. Countries are encouraged to continue registering and announcing new SDG Acceleration
Actions -namely initiatives that governments and other actors may be undertaking in line
with the decade of action and delivery for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. They can
showcase such SDG Acceleration Actions using the dedicated online platform
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgactions) that was created on the occasion of the
2019 SDG Summit.
III. Documentation
28. All official documents are expected to be delivered on schedule. They are available for
download
and
review
from
the
2020
HLPF
website
at
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#docs
(some still in advance unedited
version) and will be available on UNODS site in all official languages.
29.
Documentation includes notably
1
:
Report of the Secretary-General on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
Synthesis of voluntary submissions by functional commissions of the ECOSOC and other
intergovernmental bodies and forums,
Compilation of the main messages for the 2020 voluntary national reviews
Reports of regional forums on sustainable development
1
This listing does not include the documentation for the high-level segment ECOSOC day which is:
Report of the Secretary-General on accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the
decade of the action and delivery for sustainable development
Report of the Secretary-General on long-term future trends and scenarios - impacts in the economic,
social and environmental areas on the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals
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Discussion papers on the theme of the HLPF, submitted by major groups and other
stakeholders
Follow-up and review of the financing for development outcomes and the means of
implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
30. VNR reports submitted by countries presenting a Voluntary National Review will be posted
on the VNR database (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/) when they become
available.
31. As mentioned above, background notes and other background
developed
by
the
Secretariat
through
the
preparatory
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#docs)
and
background
note
on
key
messages
from
VNR
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/) are also available.
materials
process
a
countries
IV. Logistical and technical arrangements
Registration
32. Participating States are invited to register up to 10 participants who would participate in the
meetings on the virtual platform over the course of the HLPF/HLS (7 – 17 July 2020). The
Secretariat will send an email to registered participants containing all the necessary technical
details, including the meeting link. So as not to overload the platform, participating States
should limit their participation on the virtual platform to no more than two representatives
at any given time. Participating States are kindly encouraged to coordinate virtual
participation on the platform among their delegates in order to ensure that the two-delegate
participation limit is respected at any given time. All other members of the delegation can
watch the meetings live on UN Webcast at
http://webtv.un.org/.
There is no limit to the
number of persons who can follow the discussions through UN Webcast, and the Webcast will
be recorded. Special arrangements will be made for VNR countries for the meetings at which
they present.
33. Participating States are also invited to indicate the full composition of their delegation
(including delegates who do not have access to the virtual platform) through the e-List of
Participants module for the HLPF/HLS in the e-deleGATE portal by 30 June 2020.
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34. Representatives of intergovernmental organizations, specialized agencies or representatives
of the UN system entities are invited to register up to 3 participants who would participate in
the meetings on the virtual platform over the course of the HLPF/HLS. So as not to overload
the platform, participating organizations/entities should limit their participation to no more
than one representative at any given time. Representatives of an organization/entity are
kindly encouraged to coordinate virtual participation on the platform among them.
LINK TO THE REGISTRATION FORM TO ACCESS THE VIRTUAL PLATFORM:
The link to the registration form will be circulated on the e-deleGATE platform on 22 June
35. In order to assist the presiding officer in identifying participants on the virtual platform, when
joining the meeting, participants should enter their details as follows:
36. If participants do not clearly identify their delegation/affiliation when joining the platform,
admission to the meeting may be delayed and they may be requested to leave the meeting
and rejoin. In case participation on the platform is close to capacity, the presiding officer may
authorize the Secretariat to remove participants.
37. Representatives of major groups and other stakeholders (MGoS) should go
to
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#stakeholders
and could sign up to the
MGoS Coordination Mechanism mailing list if they have not yet done so.
38. A guide with technical requirements will be shared with registered participants in advance.
Testing of the platform will also be organized in advance of the session and each meeting will
be opened approximately one hour before the start time in order to ensure that connections
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are working properly. Participants who expect to take the floor during the meetings are
strongly encouraged to participate in a test in advance.
Interventions
39. In order to request the floor during interactive discussions at a given meeting, participants
will be invited to inscribe through an on-line speaker form. The Secretariat will provide a
dedicated link to the speaker form to request the floor along with the link to access the WebEx
meetings. The form will only be enabled at the start of a given meeting or discussion and no
requests can be made before that time. All requests for taking the floor during the interactive
discussions of the HLPF and the ECOSOC High-level Segment should be made through the
speaker form.
40. Given the limited time available and in order to allow the maximum number of participants
to intervene, interventions should be limited to no more than two minutes each. The time
limit will be strictly implemented, including through the use of a timing device and sound
alert. The Chair or moderator may intersperse the interventions of participating States with
interventions by international organizations, representatives of the UN system and major
groups and other stakeholders.
Interpretation
41. The Secretariat is in the process of testing the remote simultaneous interpretation platform
and, depending on the outcome, may be in a position to offer the service on a limited scale.
Information on possible provision of interpretation for meetings of the HLPF/HLS will be
provided as soon as available.
Webcast
42. All informal plenary meetings of the 2020 HLPF and High-level Segment of ECOSOC will have
UN Webcast at:
http://webtv.un.org/.
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