UKSSD publishes Scorecard of UK Voluntary National Review

23rd September 2019

UKSSD’s SDG Scorecard was published last week, it assesses the UK Voluntary National Review (VNR) based on UN Voluntary Reporting guidelines and best practice.

EAUC fed into this work through its membership with UKSSD. Although there are positive signs of progress, of the eleven areas considered by partners in UKSSD’s advocacy action group, none receive a green rating to indicate it satisfied the expectations of a VNR process.

Four were considered poor (red), six were unsatisfactory (amber/red) and only one was satisfactory, though lacking in some areas (amber/green). 

Issues of particular concern include the lack of comprehensive analysis of the UK’s performance on the SDGs, the process of stakeholder engagement undertaken as part of the review and the failure to use the VNR as a way to create a step change in the UK’s implementation of the SDGs.
 
From its eleven recommendations UKSSD is calling for:

• A Minister in Cabinet with a domestic mandate to lead the UK’s efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals
• A commitment to develop an ambitious and comprehensive plan for the implementation of the SDGs
• Further clarity on the purpose of the stakeholder engagement mechanism the Government committed to when it published the review which UKSSD has welcomed

UKSSD’s co-chair Jeff Twentyman said:
'As the Government prepares for the UN General Assembly next week, we would expect our scorecard to make a significant contribution to its reflections on the experience of producing a Voluntary National Review. We hope that this leads to a more ambitious approach and that the Government really demonstrates its commitment to the Goals as this can only result in positive outcomes for the UK. UKSSD and its partners look forward to working with the Government to accelerate progress on the SDGs in the UK'. 
 
You can read about EAUC’s feedback to the Department for International Development on the UK’s first SDG VNR here.