Ministerial Segment

This session will gather a number of ministers from various regions of world to share their national experiences with the formulation of strategies for the implementation of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. The focus will be on describing the challenges that they will face in reaching the goals and the measures that each is taking to address these challenges so as to improve the chances of success.

One of the main challenges facing governments around the world is how to align their policies in a way that builds on the good intentions and aspirations of both the SDGs as well as the Paris Agreement. In the case of the Paris Agreement, ministers will be asked to share the main features of their National Determined Contributions and if relevant, their strategies on the SDGs. How do these strategies adapt the global targets and goals to their individual national contexts? The challenge of striving for integrated and cross-sectoral solutions, rather than silo approaches, will be a main theme of this session. How are each of the countries represented addressing the institutional, financing and capacity building issues associated with the implementation of the goals? There is universal recognition that these three themes are the basis of the formidable challenge that governments have as they move forward in years ahead. The purpose of the session is also to clearly describe the role of government vis-à-vis other key constituencies such as the private sector and civil society, while at the same time emphasizing that this is a joint effort in which each plays a specific complementary role.