Inter-regional Workshop on Experiences and Lessons Learned from the ECOSOC National Voluntary Presentations

WHAT?

Since their inception, the National Voluntary Presentations have been critical instruments to review the status of implementation of the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals at the national level and share experiences globally.

In the wake of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, UN DESA organized a workshop to take stock of eight years of National Voluntary Presentations and to contribute to the preparations for the follow-up and review of the implementation of the new sustainable development goals. The inter-regional workshop provided an opportunity to reflect on the experience of participating in the National Voluntary Presentations with a view to strengthen future review processes.  Participants formulated recommendations for the UN system to strengthen national capacities for using goal-oriented, evidence-based, and participatory frameworks in the formulation, implementation and review of policies and strategies for sustainable development. The 2015 inter-regional workshop also allowed to facilitate the sharing of experiences and lessons learned from the NVP progress reviews among senior government officials and experts that have been involved in the process with a view to strengthen future reviews as a basis for policy-making.

WHO?

Organized by UN DESA with a strong support and participation of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the workshop brought together representatives from more than twenty countries, coming from government capitals and delegations to the United Nations. Participants had been part of the NVP process since its inception and represented all continents. Experts from different divisions within the United Nations  Department of Economic and Social Affairs facilitated the discussions.

• Agenda
• Concept note
• Survey
• Summary
• Statements-Presentations
  

  Session I Lessons learned from the NVP exercise

  Presentation of the ECOSOC AMR/NVP (Mr. Navid Hanif, Director, OESC/DESA)

  Mr. Belachew G. Gutulo, Counsellor,  Permanent Mission to UN, Ethiopia

  Mr. Easton Williams, Director, Social Policy, Planning and Research Division, Planning Institute, Jamaica

  Session II NVP reviews: what were the missing elements?

  Mr. Luis Alexandro Diaz Silva, Director Social Division, Ministry of Planning, Chile

  Session III NVP effects on national policy-making and review processes

  Ms. Rocío Pérez Mendoza, Director for Economic and Social Affairs, Mexico

  Mr. Adeyemi Fajingbesi, Economic Policy Analysis Centre, Nigeria

  Mr. Wanchat Suwankitti,  Senior Policy and Plan Analyst, Head of Social Policy Monitor Unit, NESDB, Thailand

  Session IV IADGs/MDGs as Framework to Measure and Review Development Progress

  Mr. Ivo Havinga, Chief, Economic Statistics Branch, Statistics Division/DESA

  Mr. Bimerew Alemu Dessie, Strategic Planning and Management Office Coordinator, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ethiopia

  Session V Capacity gaps to conduct goal-oriented reviews of progress

  Mr. Oscar Leonardo Enríquez Sánchez, Economist and Ministerial Delegate National Secretary of Planning  and Development (SENPLADES), Ecuador

  Mr. Kenneth Owusu, technical Advisor, National Development Planning Commission, Ghana

  Mr. Easton Williams, Director, Social Policy, Planning and Research Division, Planning Institute of Jamaica

  Session VI Institutional setting for integrated policies

  Mr. Alan AtKisson, Independent Advisor to DESA: tools and DESA pilot case experiences in Belize and Togo

  Ms. Mirna  Mariscal Ayaviri, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis, UDAPE, Bolivia

  Mr. Ivo Havinga, Chief, Economic Statistics Branch, Statistics Division/DESA – the critical importance of data: the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting

  Session VII

  Mr. Ousmane Diallo, Consultant, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

  Smaller groups will reflect together on the previous two days of presentations and discussions, and begin to distil a set of proposed key messages to be communicated from the workshop to the international community. Break-out groups will be by region and/or choice of working language preference

  Keynote address – Mr. Lenni Montiel, ASG, DESA

  Session VIII Informing development policies: an integrated assessment tool package

  Ms. Diana Alarcon, Chief, Development Strategy and Policy Unit, DPAD/ DESA - Integrated assessment: balancing physical limits, economic determinants and social aspirations

  Mr. Mark Howells, KTH - Fine tuning the promotion of renewable energy: an integrated assessment for Mauritius

  Mr. John O’Toole, Senior Interregional Advisor, DSPD/DESA

  Mr. Eduardo Zepeda, Interregional Advisor, DPAD/DESA

  Session IX Economy-wide modelling and micro-simulation to inform development policy

  Mr. Marco Sanchez, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, DPAD/DESA - The economic driver of development: economy-wide modelling and microsimulation

  Mr. Rafael Osorio, Applied Economic Research Institute (IPEA), Brazil- The use of microsimulation and social impact analysis to inform social policies

  Mr. Eduardo Zepeda, Interregional Advisor, DPAD/DESA - Systems Dynamic Energy Modelling- DESA’s approach (evidence from Bolivia and Uganda)

  Session XI Closing Statements

  Mr. Lenni Montiel, ASG/DESA