Hanoi, 12^th January 2018 - The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and GIZ co-organised a Consultation Workshop on “Draft reports on In-depth reviews of Sustainable Development Goals” as inputs for Vietnam’s Voluntary National Review (VNRs) to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The Workshop was held within the framework of the Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Programme, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Vietnam is one of 48 countries to present a Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the July 2018 session of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The theme of the forum is "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies." The VNRs aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The VNRs also seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to support Vietnam in preparing VNRs to submit to HLPF in 2018, GIZ has been assisting the MPI to conduct in-depth reviews of 15 out of 17 SDGs. Other development partners such as UNDP also provide support to Vietnam in preparing the first country SDG report, in line with the requirements of VNRs.

The in-depth reviews of 15 SDGs by GIZ have been conducted on the basis of grouping most interconnected Goals into 4 groups: Group 1 on Social sustainability including SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4; Group 2 on Economic sustainability including SDGs 8, 9, 11; Group 3 on Environmental sustainability including SDGs 6, 13, 14, 15 and Group 4 on Justice and Governance including SDGs 5, 10, 16, 17.  The consultation workshop attracted participation of more than 70 delegates including researchers, representatives from development partners, line ministries, non-governmental organizations and civil society.

"The key message and purpose of the SDGs, ‘leave no one behind’ is at the core of Viet Nam’s response, and this cannot be achieved without a ‘whole of nation’ approach in implementation and reporting.....It is essential to have the active involvement of all related ministries, localities, enterprises and people as well as development partners“ said Ms. Nguyen Le Thuy, Deputy Director General, Department of Science – Education - Natural Resources & Environment, MPI.