Sustainable Development Goals: Voluntary National Review 2023

Ireland presented its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) of the Sustainable Development Goals to the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2023. This progress report reviewed Ireland’s progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including the commitment to Leave No One Behind.

The Voluntary National Review is a voluntary, country led review involving multiple stakeholders, through which countries assess and present their national progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. It aims to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned, seeks to strengthen policies and institutions of the Government, and mobilise multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ireland’s 2023 VNR report was developed around the theme of 'Building Back Better while Leaving No One Behind'. This is guided by the central commitment of Agenda 2030, ‘Leaving No One Behind’, along with the main theme of the 2023 High-Level Political Forum, ‘Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels’.

The VNR reflects Ireland’s strong economic recovery following the pandemic and our efforts to build back better while leaving no-one behind guided by the SDGs and Agenda 2030. It demonstrates the wide range of national policies which continue to be introduced to support and address the SDGs and their targets. These policies also ensure delivery across areas of national importance and provide strategic frameworks for progress and success.

The 2023 VNR was presented by Minister Ryan at the UN High-level Political Forum in July. For the presentation, the Minister was joined by Mavis Ramazani from the Irish Refugee Council, who spoke about her lived experience as a refugee in Ireland. The presentation also included a video demonstrating how civil society had been involved in the process over the last year, through consultations, the National Stakeholder Fora and stakeholder engagement.

You can watch Ireland's full presentation here on UN Web TV.

At the UNHLPF, the Minister also delivered Ireland's National Statement on building momentum towards the 2023 SDG Summit.

You can view the Statement here on: UN Web TV.

Ireland strongly supports stakeholder participation in the 2030 Agenda process. Acknowledging the important contribution played by national stakeholders and civil society in achieving the SDGs, the 2023 VNR process gave stakeholders the opportunity to participate and contribute to the VNR report.

An online public consultation was arranged in early 2023, which invited public submissions, and these have formed the compendium of stakeholder contributions in the VNR. A specific youth consultation process was also held, as well as two SDG National Stakeholder Forum meetings in January and April.

Operating on the principle of ‘open drafting’, which allows nongovernmental participants to contribute to the report, key national stakeholder groups, representing a variety of sectors, were invited to contribute a chapter for inclusion in the VNR report. These submissions offer stakeholder perspectives on how Ireland is doing, where progress is being made, and where there is more work to do in achieving the SDGs. Contributions have not been edited and demonstrate inclusivity and transparency in reporting on Agenda 2030.

Youth Consultation Process

The youth consultation process was developed by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) and this Department, with the support of Ireland’s UN Youth Delegates (UNYD), the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and Comhairle na nÓg. In February 2023, NYCI hosted a special consultation event, along with the UN Youth Delegates, Youth Voices and Comhairle na nÓg, resulting in a youth chapter, the first year such a chapter has been included in any country’s VNR.

National Stakeholder Fora

The January SDG National Stakeholder Forum was based on the theme of ‘Building Back Better while Leaving No One Behind’, and the discussions and outputs from that event helped to inform and shape the VNR. The April SDG National Stakeholder Forum was dedicated to the VNR. The feedback from workshops held on the thematic Government chapters of the VNR is included at the end of each of those chapters.

Junior Art Competition

The Department also held a junior art competition on the theme of the SDGs and Leaving No One Behind, which provided images and art for inclusion in the final VNR.

There are ten chapters in the VNR which contain the following content:

Chapter 1 sets out the introduction and methodology used for the development of this report.

Chapter 2 provides a high-level overview of Ireland’s approach to ensuring a balanced and inclusive economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chapter 3 sets out Ireland’s national implementation and governance structures, including the development and improvement of these structures since the 2018 VNR, and key objectives for the next two years.

Chapter 4 provides an overview of how Ireland commenced a national dialogue on the principle of Leaving No One Behind and what the principle means in an Irish context. The chapter details initial discussions and outputs, and how they will be used.

Chapter 5 sets out the findings and outputs of the VNR specific youth consultation process, led and written by Ireland’s UN Youth Delegates Jessica Gill and David Giles. The consultation again centred on Building Back Better while Leaving No One Behind and comprised youth representative groups. Notably, this is the first time a country has provided a standalone youth chapter written by youth in its report.

Chapter 6 sets out what the data shows, including a dashboard summary of Ireland’s progress towards achieving the SDG targets using the UN indicator data set and includes an infographic per SDG, highlighting key figures and statistics prepared by Ireland’s Central Statistics Office.

Chapter 7 includes a thematic review of specific areas of national importance and key Goals under the overall theme of Ireland’s 2023 VNR Building Back Better while Leaving No One Behind, and highlights the contribution made across Government on these areas.

• Education – sets out the policies that drive our success in this area and focuses on policies which provide access and inclusion to education
• Employment and Social Protection – focuses on Ireland’s enterprise policy, supports to those in business during the pandemic, and policies relating to worker protection
• Health – outlines the improvements in the sector across a number of policy areas and highlights new reform programmes that have been implemented
• Community Engagement and Inclusion – highlights the role played by the community and voluntary sector in the pandemic and sets out policies for those marginalised
• Housing – sets out key policies designed to meet the housing challenge for all members of society
• Climate Action and Circular Economy – outlines policies in the area of climate and the circular economy which are designed to meet targets in these key areas

Chapter 8 outlines how Ireland continues to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda internationally, through Ireland’s international development programme, targeting the most vulnerable individuals and communities.

Chapter 9 includes assessments from seven key national stakeholder groups from a variety of sectors. Contributions have been included verbatim as provided by stakeholders and have not been edited by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

The independent observations of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission’s submission to the 2023 UN High-Level Political Forum on the second VNR of Ireland, is also included as a separate chapter in the VNR. The State welcomes the Commission’s participation in this process.

Chapter 10 constitutes the conclusion of the report which provides a summary of main findings from the VNR and sets out next steps in respect of accelerating Ireland’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda.