(9th meeting) High-Level Political Forum 2026

Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, the 9th meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, convened under the auspices of Economic and Social Council at its 2026 session, is called to order. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I invite the Forum to continue its considerations

Thank you, Mr. President. We now move to the first panel of sub-item C of agenda item 2, Voluntary National Reviews. For the first set of panel presentations, I am pleased to welcome the distinguished presenters from Cabo Verde, Italy, and Senegal. Before we begin with the presentations, I would like to appeal to the presenting countries to adhere to the agreed 10 minutes per presentation so as to allow sufficient time for all the presenters as well as engagement with other states and participants. I apologize in advance if I have to interrupt speakers, and I hope that I will not come to that point with your cooperation. Given the number of countries making VNR presentations, at this year's HLPF. I believe that we all understand the need to be disciplined so as to allow adequate time for presentations as well as interaction from the floor. The Forum will first hear the voluntary national reviews by Cabo Verde, and I now invite His Excellency Carlos Alberto Ramos Varela, Minister of Environment, Climate Actions and Energy of Cape Verde to make a presentation. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. Before I start, let me note that we are, as a new government from Cape Verde, for just to complete one month, but it's a great honor for Cape Verde as a minister now to present our 3rd voluntary review, national review, and we fully embrace its results until now. This review for Cape Verde reflects a country's collective efforts, advance to 2030 Agenda since the last review made in 2021. It presents the country achievements, knowledges, and the challenges that we continue to face and reaffirm our determination and our commitments for sustainable development. As a small country development state, we know that sustainable progress is building on resilience, continuity, and strong partnership. Cabo Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Our geography is both a great opportunity but also our great challenges. We continue to face water scarcity, increased climate risk, depending on imported fossil fuels, and exposure to external economic shocks. These realities require careful planning, innovation, and efficient use of every available resource. For Cabo Verde, Cabo Verde's sustainable development is not simply an international commitment. It is an issue of national importance and priorities. The connection between water and energy illustrates this situation. Around 90% of drinking water is produced through desalination and depends heavily on energy. This means that fluctuations in international fuel prices affect directly the cost of both water and electricity, with significant impacts on families, business, and public finances. For us, accelerating renewable energy is therefore not only an environmental priority, it's also a strategy to strengthen water security, economic resilience, and social well-being. Excellencies, these years since our, our previous review, we face a lot of challenges and the external factors— the COVID-19 pandemic, global inflation, and climate-related events— place huge pressure of on our economy. Even so, Cape Verde remains resilient. We preserve political stability, strengthen our institutions, and continue investing in people. Today, electricity is close to universal, access to safe drinking water continuing to expand, renewable energy already represents around one-quarter quarter of electricity generation, with ambitious targets for further growth. Digital public services have expanded significantly, significantly, and we bring a government solution system to close for the citizens. Those achievements demonstrate that even under difficulties circumstances, determined policies and commitment partnership can deliver tangible results. Water remains one of our great development priorities. Over the past years, we have continued investing in desalination, distribution networks, and integrated water resource management. Today, access to improved drinking water exceeds 90% nationally, representing significant progress. However, sanitation and wastewater management remain our major challenges. Expanding sanitation services and increasing the safe treatment and reuse of wastewater are now among Our 8th priority. Cabo Verde no longer reviews— treats wastewater as waste, but as a strategic resource. It is vital for water scarcity agriculture and essential for sustainable climate and environmental resistance— resilience. In Cabo Verde, every drop of water counts, essentially because assessing natural water resource has always been a challenge. Our energy, energy transition continues to accelerate. Renewable energy is helping us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening energy security, and decrease dependence of high price of fluctuation of the fossil fuels. But Cape Verde's But Cabo Verde, this transition is about much more than energy. It is about lowering the cost of production, drinking water. It is about increased economic competitiveness. It is about creating green jobs. And it is about building a great resilience for the future generations. Our national ambition Our energy policy is clear. We want to continue expanding renewable energy while modernizing our electricity system and improving energy efficiency across all sectors. Our internal initiative demonstrates that government commitment on this matter. In budgets, we improved the institutional framework, the special planning locally and nationally, and monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of the investments. Innovation and resilient infrastructure are essential for Cabo Verde Islands. Cabo Verde continues to invest in digital transformation, on resilience infrastructure, strong relationship with our partners, and focus on governance reforms. We are protecting our biodiversity and the natural ecosystem and reinforce effective institutions and good governance. We remain committed to advance the true dialogue, innovation, and strong partnership. For Cabo Verde, resilience is not a choice. It is our daily reality. And partnership is not an option. It is the foundation of our future. Over the past few days, many people around the world followed the remarkable performance of Cabo Verde's national football team, we call Blue Sharks or Tubarões Azuis. For us, they represent much more than sports success. They remind us that commitment, discipline, and determination, and as well teamwork, always matter and more than a country size because we are a small country but we can do a lot if we work as a team. Perhaps that is also the best way to describe Cape Verde's sustainable development journey. We are a small island nation. Our challenges are significant, but our ambition is even greater. Again, Cabo Verde remains fully committed to work with all partners to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure that no island, no community, no one is left behind. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I thank the Minister of Environment, Climate Action, and Energy of Cabo Verde and his team for the presentations. Now the forum will next hear the voluntary national review by Senegal, and I invite His Excellency Cheikh Touniane Diaye, Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal, to make a presentation. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you very much. Merci.

Thank you. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, ambassadors, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is a true honor for me to take the floor on behalf of the Republic of Senegal during this High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. After having presented our first Voluntary National Review in 2018 and then our second VNR in 2022. We are currently presenting our 3rd review. This participatory approach reflects our desire to take regular stock of the implementation of Agenda 2030. I wish to take this opportunity to applaud the commitment of all stakeholders who have contributed to the drafting of this review, specifically sectoral ministries, local governing bodies, particularly the City of Peking this year, which initiated the crafting of our— of a local national local voluntary review, civil society, the private sector, as well as the United Nations system. My presentation will successively focus on the framework for the implementation of the SDGs, the process of crafting the review, the main results achieved, and lastly, the main levers in order to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Vis-à-vis the implementation of the SDGs in Senegal, the SDGs are fully incorporated in the reference of documents for public policy, namely the National Agenda for Transformation Senegal 2015. For— in this regard, all of the priority SDGs are reflected in the National Development Strategy, SND 2025-2029, and nearly 93% of the SDG indicators have been incorporated into the follow-up evaluation national mechanism, which is rooted in participatory governance through the Joint Annual Review, which is a true tool for dialogue and accountability for public policies. Turning to the process of crafting the 2026 Voluntary National Review, our 3rd national— Voluntary National Review followed a clear blueprint with a participatory and inclusive approach in accordance with the principles of ensuring that nobody be left Behind. Throughout this process, the contributions of various stakeholders have been mobilized in order to establish a review which reflects our national realities, and this momentum was enriched with alternative reports that have been crafted by civil society, as well as the establishment of a national strategy, Leaving Nobody Behind, and targeted consultations with associations of persons with disabilities as well as volunteers, related stakeholders, and with the concerted establishment of key messages. The 3rd VNR has presented progress on all 17 SDGs, and in accordance with— and for this edition, it will focus on the 5 goals, 6— SDG 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17. Turning to SDG 6, 6, clean water and sanitation. For this SDG, we have achieved meaningful progress over the past decade, both at the urban level and in rural areas. In 2025, the rate of access for drinking water in urban areas reached 97.8%. In the rural environment, this rate reached 8.8— increased 8.8 percentage points between 2015 and 2025. Resting at 96.04%. Over the same period, access to sanitation also improved, increasing from 62.5% to 73.65% in the urban areas and 37.5% to 64.5% in the rural landscape. This is a particularly striking improvement in rural areas. These gains will be shored up by surmounting challenges related to securing access to water, improving the quality of services, And strengthening infrastructure. Turning to SDG 7, clean energy at an affordable cost. Turning to SDG 7, we have also achieved significant progress. Between 2015 and 2024, the overall rates of access to electricity rose from 62% to 86%. And in the rural environment, this rate more than doubled from 32% to 69.8%. In parallel, Senegal has been continuing to foster our energy transition. The share of renewable energies in the installed capacity increased from 3% in 2016 to 29.10% in 2024, with the goal of reaching 40% by 2030. Turning to SDG 9, we are continuing to pursue our efforts for the promotion of sustainable industrialization, shoring up infrastructure and supporting more competitive economic growth. The results reflect the fact that the manufacturing-related added value in GDP dropped from 17.1% in 2015 to 13.2% in 2025. And this situation is primarily the result of significant growth in the national economy, which was generated by the launch of oil and gas exploration initiatives and not a reduction in manufacturing activity. And these efforts are accompanied by significant infrastructure and transport investments. Turning to SDG 9, in 2025, transportation networks resulted in movements of 483.2 million travelers, 7.5 million through the rapid transit bus, helping to avoid nearly 53,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The railway Network has also made progress, reaching 23.1 million passengers serviced in 2025, as compared to 2.7% in 2015, thanks to the TER, the Regional Express Train. Turning to SDG 11, this sheds light on progress in sustainable urbanization while recalling the challenges inherent to accelerated urbanization. The urbanization rate grew from 45.2% in 2013 to 54.7% in 2023, shedding light on the importance of housing needs. In 2025, this deficit— the deficit was calculated at nearly 500,000 homes, stressing the need to continue to pursue efforts for decent and affordable housing. Beyond these housing-related challenges, we are continuing to make progress in improving the living standard Turning to SDG 11, in 2025, our national rate for waste collection was 59%, with good coverage in the capital, Dakar. Recycling and reuse of waste remain priorities. In parallel, 542.1 hectares of green space was also developed and prioritized between 2015 and 2025. These efforts are accompanied by improvements in air quality in Dakar, where the average annual level of fine particles dropped from 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air in 2015 to 25.8 micrograms per cubic meter of air in 2025. Turning to SDG 17, Partnerships for the Achievement of the SDGs, uh, as this SDG highlights efforts that we have undertaken in order to improve and strengthen the means for implementation of the SDGs. Results reflect improved mobilization of domestic resources. The share of the national budget financed by taxes— tax collection revenue rose from 54.8% in 2015 to 69% in 2025, whereas public revenues, beyond donations aside, rose from 19.3% to 20.8% of the GDP. GDP, demonstrating the efforts undertaken to better mobilize domestic resources. In terms of public debt, outstanding amount is calculated at 116.1% of GDP in 2025, and the debt service-to-exports ratio for goods and services stands at 49.8% in 2025. Turning to digital technologies, we have significant improvement in internet coverage rate. And this internet coverage rate increased from 50.69% in 2015 to more than 100— to near— to more than 100% in 2025. This momentum is liable— it will be built upon with the implementation of our national program in this area, which is articulated around the national new technology Technology deal. In light of the lessons drawn from the assessment of the above-mentioned SDGs, we have identified priorities— strategic priorities to accelerate implementation thereof— namely, systemic transformation of our economy through the development of 8 strategic sectors through territorial centers and accelerated establishment of special economic zones. Second, improving sustainable access to water and sanitation thanks to the implementation of the National Compact for water security, which will help to streamline water and sanitation service delivery. Third, the implementation of our nationally determined contribution 3.0 and accelerated development of renewable energies. And lastly, fourth, greater flows of sustainable financing and stronger partnerships on the basis of the document framework— framework document on sustainable financing and the national strategy for the mobilization of intermediate We will continue to cooperate with the IMF in order to shore up our macroeconomic stability and the sustainability of public financing. And in parallel, we will strengthen our partnerships through the cooperation strategy and the national transition strategy in order to facilitate our graduation from the category of the least developed countries. Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, we remain fully committed to the implementation of Agenda 2030. We reaffirm our desire to continue along these lines with— together with the entire international community. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your kind attention.

I thank the Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal for his presentation. And now the forum will next hear the voluntary national review by Italy. And I invite His Excellency Claudio Barbaro, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Security of Italy, to make a presentation. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Mr. President, ministers, distinguished delegates, I'm honored to be here today for a joint presentation alongside the Deputy Director-General for Development Cooperation of our Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sardinia's Regional Councillor for the Environment representing Italy's regions, and the representative of the Forum for Sustainable Development, the National Platform for Civil Society Engagement on the 2030 Agenda. Our VNR, which we have labeled the Voluntary National Local Youth Review, is aimed to foster integration, which is why today 4 speakers will illustrate not only the results achieved but also the rationale underpinning our working method, that is shared responsibility. The VNR assesses processes underway at national level and regional, local, territory, but it is also future-oriented as it rests on monitoring as instrumental to reorienting priorities and implementation trajectories. The goal is to broaden the perspective and outline not only the progress made toward achieving the SDGs, but above all, the overall formative effort undertaken by the various levels of government and stakeholders. This concept translates into a unified framework integrated across levels, stakeholders, and sectors based on the National Strategy for Sustainable Development and the triennial programming and guidance document for cooperation. At its core, Italy places levers for action and change— that is, policy coherence, culture, and participation for sustainable development. Similarly, the SDGs localization and the active role of local communities build the foundation of our model. Following the work trajectories identified in 2022, this review exercise has identified several priority outcomes: stronger inter-ministerial coordination, and improved piloting of mechanisms that enhance consistency in evaluating public policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Engagement of younger generations, stronger multilevel governance and multistakeholder dialogue, improved collaborative capacity, building a cultural environment conducive to experimenting new integrated policies and engaging a wide range of stakeholders, including businesses, stronger integrated multilevel monitoring system. The analysis we conducted also identified some challenges ahead: enhancing the coherence of sustainable development policies by making public policy implementation and evaluation simpler and more effective, facilitating networking among stakeholders, improving their training, and offering more opportunities for engagement and interaction. Establishing permanent platforms for dialogue open to all stakeholders and younger generations, fostering an intergenerational perspective. Preserving initiatives that give voice to and prioritize local communities at the national and global level, such as the Partnership Platform for the Localization of the SDGs, initiative launched by Italy and UN-Habitat and joined by various countries and organizations supports peer-to-peer dialogue, and promotes the testing of national frameworks for the localization of sustainable goals. The activities carried out within the partnership led to the drafting of the joint message on the localization of the SDGs, which Italy, together with other partners, has incorporated into its VNR, contributing to the post-2030 agenda by focusing on cross-cutting structural and transformative factors such as the coherent and integrated governance at various levels. Italy's first voluntary review on young generations is inspired by the Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations. It maps a whole journey and marks a turning point in attaining young people's inclusion and sustainability efforts. This review sends a straightforward message: young people are agents of change and their priorities are clear— transformative education, meaningful participation, integration of intergenerational intergenerational dimension into the sustainability assessment of public policies. Italy is committed to making this dialogue permanent, sustained, and measurable because there can be no sustainable transformation without the active involvement of the younger generations and without a focus on future generations. Thank you.

Mr. President, distinguished ministers and colleagues, The external dimension of Italy policy coherence for sustainable development is grounded on national law and adopts an integrated approach involving public administration alongside private stakeholders. As was mentioned, the law establishes governance structures led by the Prime Minister's Office, which ensures coordination among the relevant ministers and other relevant councils. This framework also guarantees dialogue and consultation among civil society organizations, private sector, academia, and public institutions. The main strategy, as was mentioned, for ensuring external coherence is a 3-year policy planning document which sets out the priority and strategic directions of our development cooperation. The Italian development action focuses on 38 partner countries and on key sectors for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including food security, health, education, water and sanitation, decent work, environment, and climate. Going from policy to action, what we implement is a Team Italy approach, which is a multi-stakeholder approach involving all relevant stakeholders to promote coherence across our external action and development policy. One relevant instrument that we use is our system-wide mission in partner countries, where we bring together pieces of the public administration together with our civil society organization, with the private sector, with our development bank, and we work with our international partners, including the European Union. The objective of these missions is to identify or develop together with our partner countries, joint initiatives in, in constant partnership and dialogue with them, and help to translate political commitment into tangible results on the ground. Italy's commitment to sustainable development is also reflected in, in our official development assistance. In 2025, Italy stood out as the only G7 member to increase ODA despite global cuts in development assistance.

President, distinguished delegates, as representative of Sardinia, I am honored to voice the perspective of regions and autonomous provinces and metropolitan cities of Italy today. After years of close cooperation, Localization of SDGs and multilevel governance are reality within the Italian model, and they guide the coherence of sustainable development policies. Local strategies outline a shared path towards a transformative change as called upon by the Agenda 2030, a process that requires long-term alliances, vision, and continuity at administrative level. Against this backdrop, the VNR Youth Generations in 2026 plays a vital role coordinating the reviews of 15 regions and urban cities, and it's a key tool to ensure that administrative stakeholders play their part and policies and effectiveness are monitored. At local level, all stakeholders are committed to ensuring integration at local level and internationally with the Agenda Agenda 2030. Through aid-centered coordination, our territories, our local government authorities, allow to promote collaboration and to promote partner— partnerships with international partners. These concrete initiatives are translated onto multiple levels. 66% of initiatives are supported by local township Governance, and 69 through participatory initiatives. Coherence of sustainable development policies is now a key resource that drives— actively drives 65% of all the entities that are involved. This achievement shows that SDGs localization is a strategic catalyst and is necessary, is a prerequisite for sustainable development goals that can be measured, implemented, and that can be relevant within our local communities. Thank you for your attention.

Mr. President, honorable ministers, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to draw your attention to the participation mechanism shown on this slide. This is a real space for dialogue, one that we must protect and strengthen. For the more than 360 civil society and non-state organizations involved in the Annual Forum, Challenges lie ahead: ensuring continuity beyond the voluntary national review process, while amplifying the voices of those most at risk of exclusion. We also recall the need for strengthened participation and democratic citizenship at local and regional level. For institutions, the challenge is equally important: embracing genuinely open and co-created processes, where scope for mediation is provided through strong and dynamic intermediary bodies. Sustainable development is ultimately a matter of citizenship, voice, participation, and power. If we want the profound transitions of our time to reduce rather than deepen inequalities, people must be part of shaping them. Our perspective is clear: a society in which dignity, rights, and opportunity is guaranteed for everyone, without exception. That can be achieved with a new paradigm, new education frameworks and culture, a strategic infrastructure of transition. All this implies forward-looking and courageous policies. Sustainability and human security are built through inclusion, opportunity, and peace, not through conflict. The ecological transition must be socially just, opening space for those most exposed to environmental and economic change. In a world marked by division and tensions, there is no realistic alternative to peace in contributing to the construction of genuine global public goods.

Thank you.

I thank the Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security of Italy and his team for the presentation. Excellencies, Thank you very much. Distinguished delegates, we will now hear comments and questions from states and other participants. Delegations who wish to intervene in the interactive discussions, including those who previously expressed their interest to ask questions to any of the VNR presentations just heard through the Group of Friends of the Voluntary National Reviews, are invited to press the microphone button On the console now. Before I give the floor to the first speaker, I would like to remind delegations to kindly limit your interventions to 2 minutes each. With this, I would like to give the floor to the distinguished representative of United Kingdom, to be followed by Ireland, Gambia, and Portugal.

Thank you very much, President, and thank you to all of the speakers today for the great presentations on your development progress. My question is to the Honourable Minister from Cabo Verde. Thank you very much for presenting your development progress. We welcome this and we are looking forward to your chairmanship of the Association of Small Island Developing States. from next year. We noted that in your review, it highlights the growing impact of climate change on water and sanitation, and also progress that you have made on gender equality alongside economic growth, and that was very interesting for us. So we'd like to ask, what do you see as the most important actions needed from the international community to strengthen climate resilience in Small Island Developing States? What lessons would you share on ensuring that development progress delivers opportunities for women and girls? Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the United Kingdom. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ireland.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to Cap Verde, Italy, and Senegal on the presentation of their voluntary national reviews today. And I'd like to particularly congratulate the Minister from Senegal on the wonderful performance of the team in the recent World Cup, particularly because Ireland co-claims one of your great players, Pico López, and we were delighted to support him and the whole team in their endeavors. Our question is, however, for Italy. As Ireland did in 2023, Italy have focused on youth participation. The first Youth Voluntary Review presented by Italy and included in its VNR provides a practical example of implementation of the Pact for the Future and of the Declaration on Future Generations. We understand that through the YVR, Italy is equipping younger generations with a space and a structure for voicing their perspectives into national sustainable development processes also beyond the VNR. We also noted the reference to introducing an intergenerational policy impact assessment, which is particularly interesting to Ireland. Could Italy elaborate on how it intends to follow up on its Youth VR in terms of process and contents? What are the key enablers that could make younger generations' engagement structural in your country? Thank you very much, Mr. President.

I thank the distinguished representative of Ireland. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Gambia.

Thank you, Mr. President. Our question goes to the Republic of Senegal. The Gambia congratulates all the countries presenting their VNR this afternoon and commends their continued efforts to advancing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. We extend our warmest congratulations to our sisterly Republic of Senegal on the presentation of its 3rd Voluntary National Review. The Gambia and Senegal share a unique and enduring relationship rooted in shared heritage, common history, and deep familial ties that continue to bind our 2 countries and peoples together. We also commend Senegal for the tangible progress reflected in its review and welcome the candor with which its achievements and remaining challenges alike have been presented. As 2 neighboring countries pursuing shared development aspirations under the 2030 Agenda, The Gambia attaches particular importance to Senegal's experience in advancing institutional reforms and governance approaches that have underpinned the implementation of its national development priorities. We believe this experience offers valuable lessons for countries seeking to strengthen public institutions and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Given the importance of transparency and good governance in enhancing the effectiveness of public action and accelerating the SDGs, could the distinguished delegate of Senegal elaborate on the measures being taken to strengthen transparency, accountability, and the fight against corruption? I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Gambia. Now I give the floor to to His Excellency the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Portugal, to be followed by people of African descent stakeholder groups, Switzerland, Spain, Jamaica, and Tunisia.

Thank you, Chair. Portugal congratulates Cabo Verde, Italy, and Senegal on the presentation of their voluntary national reviews and thanks them for sharing their national experiences achievements and remaining challenges in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Portugal highly values its close and longstanding cooperation with Cabo Verde, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, including in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

We also look forward to Cabo Verde's chairmanship of houses.

In this spirit, we would like to address the following question to His Excellency Carlos Alberto Ramos Varela, Minister for Environment, Climate Action, and Energy, regarding SDGs 7, 9, and 11. How is Cabo Verde leveraging the energy transition, technological innovation, and the development of resilient infrastructure to promote more sustainable, inclusive, and competitive cities and communities.

I thank you.

I thank Her Excellency Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Portugal for the question. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of People of African Descent Secular Group.

Distinguished co-facilitators, Civil society welcomes Cabo Verde's real gains: sustained economic growth, near-universal access to water, electricity, and sanitation, and recognition as one of Africa's best-governed countries. The Gender Parity Law, the Victim Support Fund, and the Gender-Based Violence Act reflect genuine political will on gender equality. Yet implementation gaps remain. Gender-based violence cases, including femicides, remain high, and survivors still struggle to access justice, protection, and shelters across all islands. LGBTQI+ people still lack access to law against discrimination and recognition of same-sex unions. And domestic workers, most of them women, remain largely excluded from social protection. Nearly a quarter of young people are neither employed, in school, nor in training, and informality affects almost half of all workers. As a small island state, Cabo Verde also faces mounting climate pressure on water security alongside high public debt that constrains investment in adaptation and social protection. We therefore ask, what concrete time-bound steps will government take to guarantee survivors of gender-based violence access to justice and protection in every municipality? Will Cabo Verde adopt anti-discrimination legislation covering sexual orientation and gender identity and extend full protection of social— full social protection to domestic and informal workers? And how will civil society be formally included in monitoring progress on those commitments beyond this review? Civil society stands ready to be a genuine partner in closing the gap between Cabo Verde's strong institutions and the lived reality of those still left behind. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of People of African Descent Stakeholder Group. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Switzerland.

Thank you, Mr. President. We congratulate all the presenters on their VNRs.

Our question goes to Italy.

As a federal state, Switzerland attributes key importance to policy coherence across the levels and across sectors.

Which is why we have a national strategy on sustainable development applicable to all.

We are pleased to see that Italy included this aspect in its VNR and would like to ask the following question: Could you elaborate on your tools and approach for policy coherence for sustainable development?

How do you use it to bring impact to the different levels of government?

And could it be applicable to other countries?

Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Switzerland. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Spain.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much. We congratulate all of the VNRs that are being presented this afternoon and our questions for Senegal. Senegal considers migration to be crucial for sustainable development. How can we try to improve the contribution of regular contribution and the diaspora to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals while consolidating partnerships with receiving countries, especially Spain? Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Spain. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Jamaica.

Thank you, Mr. President. Jamaica also thanks the distinguished presenters of Cabo Verde, Italy, and Senegal for their presentations today and for the insights shared through their respective voluntary national reviews.

I'd like to direct my question to Cabo Verde.

As a fellow Small Island Developing State, Jamaica shares many of the same vulnerabilities Cabo Verde faces, and so we follow your progress with particular interests. My question is on water security. What innovative measures is Cabo Verde implementing to strengthen water security and ensure sustainable access to clean water and sanitation in the face of climate change and increasing water security, particularly in the context of small island developing states? I thank the delegation of Cabo Verde in advance for your response.

I thank the distinguished representative of Jamaica. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Tunisia.

Thank you very much, President. My question is directed to Italy. Italy has worked very hard to support localization of the SDGs. And also to ensure local VNRs favoring the local level. Tunisia, in partnership with UN-Habitat, is working with the Partnership Platform for the Localization of the SDGs in order to mutually learn from our experiences and to develop adapted national frameworks for localization of the SDGs. This year, several partner countries will be presenting their voluntary national reviews, and they have included a joint message about the localization of the SDGs in this way, underscoring the importance of this approach. And my question is as follows: What are the main features of the Italian approach in terms of localization of the SDGs, and how has Italy encouraged territories in this process of decentralization. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Tunisia. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Workers' and Trade Union Major Groups.

Thank you, President. Allow me to begin by saying that there cannot be sustainable development without peace, and Italy must make a stronger commitment to promote peace. The government must also make sure that no one is left behind in a country where poverty and inequality are still major challenges. Too many people have insecure jobs, wages are getting lower and lower, and more and more people have a job but still live in poverty. Another key issue is the failure to apply the minimum wage European directive, and this is particularly clear in the platform economy. Social protection and public services are— have very important limits, especially for weaker social groups including migrants, Roma, and Sinti. We need social and labor policies that protect and include everyone. Italy is also falling behind in the green transition because public policies still support fossil fuels. And too little attention is dedicated also to gender equality. For all these reasons, we must strengthen dialogue with civil society and trade unions. It is essential that the government fully implements the National Action Program for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, long-term investments, and more progressive taxation to reduce regional and social inequalities. Without these concrete policies, too many people will be left behind and the 2030 Agenda will remain only a formal commitment. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of Workers' and Trade Union Major Group. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of JODA.

Thank you, Mr. President.

First, I would like to thank all the countries for their presentation. My question to Italy: Jordan appreciates the important role given to the local authority and community in Italy, VNR. Jordan is also working with Italy together with UN-Habitat within the partnership platform on SDGs localization, sharing the joint messages on SDG localization.

Thank you.

My question is, what achievements have been made by Italy since 2022 VNR on the local engagement and multilevel governance?

Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Jordan. Now, I give the floor to the distinguished representative of NGO Med Group.

Mr. President, we hail the renewed commitment of Senegal to Agenda 2030. Nevertheless, there are still major challenges especially in terms of access to drinking water, sanitation, and energy, especially in rural areas. Additional efforts are necessary in order to reduce poverty, create decent jobs, and improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable populations, especially those living with disabilities. While Senegal has enjoyed sustained macroeconomic growth, this must lead to the creation of decent jobs to allow communities to sustainably emerge from poverty. Support for SMEs and also for entrepreneurs and young people is essential. Industrialization must guarantee equitable outcomes, especially through decent wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value. Gender equality and access to care also need to be reinforced. It is indispensable that we reduce the burden of unpaid care that is worn by women thanks to investment in public services, water sanitation, energy, and public protections is essential to achieving the SDGs, especially in rural areas where limited access to water is problematic. This is underscored in the One Health approach. All of these things are necessary to achieve inclusive Sustainable Development. I have 2 questions. What measures to reverse the trend and achieve the SDGs and ensure mobilization of the resources required for the financing of SDGs would you recommend? What institutional mechanisms will allow governments to formally join with trade organizations in order to achieve the SDGs following the presentation of the VNRs in 2026? Thank you.

Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of NGO Majors Group. Now I would like to invite the presenters to briefly respond to the questions raised and comments made by the delegations and stakeholders. And time limit for, for to respond, to respond these questions will be 5 minutes for each delegation. With this, I would like to invite His Excellency Carlos Alberto Ramos Varela, Minister of Environment, Climate Action, and Energy of Cabo Verde, to respond.

Thank you. Thank you all for the questions. I wanted to start to emphasize that the Cape Verde experience, all the goals and the achievements that we have already done, is supported by our international cooperation, our bilateral and multilateral cooperation. We express our sincere appreciation to all of those that continue to support Cabo Verde in all the challenges and the goals that we are trying to put in place. Particularly, our priorities now is to continue to reinforce the renewable energy because, as I mentioned before, to produce water and energy, we depend totally in the fossil— So we need to expand our renewable energy technology transfer to try to produce clean energy, innovation and capacity building. Because we're trying to create now a new framework, national framework, to try to bring together the energy, the environmental issues, and the climate issues linked in the same area. Before, the institution that we have was a separate institution, but now the framework we are trying to put in the country will facilitate the actions that we need to put in those areas. To guarantee the innovation infrastructure and sustainable cities, we are trying to approve by the government side the new building codes that will be adopted to ensure that infrastructure is designed to withstand the climate actions. Cities, coastal areas, and marine space are planned to become more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable. And all of those plans is already done, and those was complete before is already to try to update to integrate the, the climate and the indicators related to these sustainable issues. The investments that we approve in the public service stimulate the economy and bring opportunity to strengthen resilience across our islands. I will pass my colleague to try to complete some questions related to the agenda. and other issues that I was not able to respond.

Thank you, Minister. Just to say that regarding gender equality, one key lesson from Cabo Verde is that sustainable development is only possible when women and girls are fully included in the decision-making and have equal access to education, healthcare, decent work, finance, and digital opportunities. Cabo Verde has made significant progress in promoting gender equality through legal reform, gender-responsive public policy, and increased participation of women in political and public life. However, Challenges remain, particularly in reducing economic inequalities and paid care burdens and gender-based violence. Continued investment in human economics, employment, and leadership is essential to ensure that development leaves no one behind. Just to say that the implementation of the Agenda 2030 in Cabo Verde is based on the principle of the universality of human rights and equal opportunities, seeking to ensure that no person is truly left behind. Thank you.

I thank the Minister of Environment, Climate Action, and Energy of Cabo Verde, Aynestrim. And now I would like to invite His Excellency, the Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal, to respond to the questions raised from the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. I wish to begin With a word of thanks to the Republic of Gambia and Spain for the questions that have been posed— put to Senegal, I would like to begin with the sister Republic of Gambia. Distinguished representative of Gambia, Senegal is honored at the opportunity to provide responses to your questions. We are very close countries. Not only do we share a border, but we also share history, we share geography, we have the same culture, the same peoples, the same languages. So the interest that you have shown us is a great honor. Your question has to do with the question of transparency and good governance. And Senegal believes that transparency and good governance, as well as the fight against corruption— these are critical levers in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public action, in order to shore up the trust of citizens, but also to create a conducive environment for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In that vein, we have enhanced our legal and institutional frameworks through, inter alia, the establishment of a National Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Office, and with a national cell to process financial information— this is the CENTIF— but also recently we've established a financial judicial Center to build financial transparency mechanisms as well as for traceability for operations and cooperation between the relevant ministries. Progress has been achieved, and this has been recognized at the international level. And the Financial Action Task Force, FATF, withdrew Senegal from the list of jurisdictions under enhanced surveillance since the 25th of October 2024. And the situation has remained unchanged in the up-to-date list published on the 29th of June 2026, where Senegal is no longer inscribed. This represents tangible progress of what we have done. We will continue to enhance public governance and transparency and integrity of institutions in order to better protect public resources and to support sustainable development rooted and responsible into a very effective governance. There you have it, Madam Distinguished Representative of Gambia. This is part of the response that we wish to share with you to your questions. Turning to the questions put by the distinguished representative of Spain on migration in particular, the position of Senegal is as follows: Secure, orderly, and regular migration is a lever for sustainable development when this is rooted in balanced cooperation between the countries of origin and transit and destination. destination. And this vision fully aligns with the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, which recognizes the fact that migration, when it is well governed, contributes to sustainable development. Senegal believes that migration generates shared benefits. Countries— host countries benefit from the skills and economic progress of migrants, whereas countries of origin have access to remittances, to skills transfer, as well as strengthened economic ties. Our National Development Strategy, the SND 2025 to 2029, provides for greater mobilization of skills, but also investments in skills and expertise. And we are continuing to foster participation in development projects, as well as in the development of mechanisms which help to channel their contributions to national development priorities, specifically. Thank you. Specifically in terms of human capital, entrepreneurship, innovation, territorial development, and productive investments. Senegal, distinguished representative, attributes particular importance to our cooperation with Spain as we seek to promote regular migration pathways to foster mobility of skills, as well as enhancing positive benefits of migration for the benefit of both countries. We continue to firmly believe that concerted, governance of migration rooted in dialogue and balanced partnership, that this is an important means of accelerating the attainment of the SDGs. And this is the partnership which we will continue to propose as we continue to work together. Mr. President, lastly, the question from the distinguished representative of civil society organizations. I simply wish to reassure non-state actors that Senegal is fully committed to mobilization and inclusive participation of civil society stakeholders in the process of crafting, implementing, and ensuring follow-up of public policies. We have the Senegal Blueprint for Development and its Transformation— a blueprint at the very minimum— 2 important focuses of our national agenda for transformation, which is the groundwork for public policy: give pride of place to development of human capital, where we mention education, improved healthcare systems, the generation of decent jobs, particularly for women and young people, greater social protections, and the reduction of inequality. And these are the features which are cross-cutting throughout the SDGs, and they lie at the heart of the public policy which are being implemented by all ministerial developments in our country. A focus has to do with sustainable territorial management and administration. And this also relates to sustainable management, sustainable transportation systems, energy, access to water, access to sanitation, as well as sound natural resources management. And in all these processes, all stakeholders, including civil society stakeholders, are fully brought in. Lastly, Senegal, like civil society actors, embraces participation of women and young people. They're fully engaged, including in the drafting of our voluntary national review and all throughout the process, civil society actors are present. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Thank you. Thank you, Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal, for his response. Now I would like to invite His Excellency the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security of Italy, to respond to the questions raised and comments made by the delegations.

Thank you for these very important questions. I'll focus on 3 main points. The Youth Voluntary Review marks the beginning of a process aimed at raising awareness and is an opportunity to contribute to the 2030 Agenda. We intend to strengthen spaces for dialogue and youth participation in monitoring and implementation processes by promoting sustained cooperation among institutions, schools, civil society, academia, and the world— and the, the world of work. Assessing the intergenerational impact of public policies will become a strategic tool that will further develop decision-making and build an evidence base for the post-2030 agenda. The second point I'd like to address is that in line with Target 17.14, policy coherence for sustainable development underpins Italy's integrated governance model, which seeks to overcome policy silos. Through instruments such as coherence matrices, we analyze the relationship among strategic objectives, indicators, and sectoral policies. As well as the alignment with the National Sustainable Development Strategy. This approach strengthens policy integration, enhances synergies, and we can manage potential trade-offs through a whole-of-government approach. Third point, multi-level governance supported by policy coherence is another crucial pillar of our approach through Sustainable Development Strategy at local level and the voluntary local reviews, we intend to strengthen the integrated monitoring and planning. The same vision also guides the Partnership Platform for the SDG Localization, which assists countries in developing national frameworks that connect different levels of government with the ultimate aim of translating global commitments into tangible results on the ground. Italy will provide a more detailed written version of these responses. And I now give the floor to Deputy Director Fancelli, followed by Director Guerri, with another comment to the questions that were posed by the trade union's representative. We don't believe that this is the forum where we should address these issues that have been raised. Thank you for your attention.

I'll take one second to recall that decentralized cooperation is— through the decentralized cooperation, the Italian government promotes SDG localization, and I'm responding to the question from Tunisia and Jordan. We support territorial partnership by bringing together local authorities, which are regions and municipalities, universities, civil societies, private sector, and diaspora communities to respond to the specific needs of partner territories. Operationally, the Italian government has established a new dedicated instrument for Italian regional and local authorities, enabling them to establish territorial partnerships in partner countries and play an active role in implementing SDG-oriented development projects. Thank you very much.

I thank you, and I thank all the ministers and their team for their presentations as well as the responses. I also thank all the delegations and other stakeholders for your valuable contributions. And before concluding, I would like to recall that General Assembly Resolution 75/290B provides that countries conducting voluntary national reviews may provide written answers after the High-Level Political Forum if they so wish, in case time was too short for them to provide detailed answers during the forum. And with this, I now briefly pause the meeting to allow the podium to be rearranged, and I invite the PNR presenters of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland to approach the podium and take their seats. I thank you all, the ministers, for your presentations. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen. For the second set of panel presentations, I'm pleased to welcome the distinguished presenters from Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.

Thank you.

Given the number of countries making VNR presentations at this year's HLPF, I believe that we all understand the need to be disciplined so as to allow adequate time for presentations as well as interaction from the floor. Our forum will first hear from His Excellency Faisal bin Fadl al-Ibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia, to make a presentation of the Voluntary National Review.

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. A decade ago, Saudi Arabia stood at an important crossroads. One path was familiar, to continue with a model that had delivered for decades and still offered comfort in the short term, but over time that path would have left the country with fewer choices, more exposed to volatility, slower to unlock opportunities, and less prepared to meet the ambition of a young generation. The other path required bolder decisions, and that path was Saudi Vision 2030. The Kingdom's 3rd Voluntary National Review reflects how Vision 2030 has turned national transformation into to practical progress across the 2030 Agenda. Today, we share what has changed since our last review in 2023, what we have learned, and what remains in progress. This is the raw story— a journey that began with honest self-assessment, advanced through reform and ambition, and is now entering a phase focused on prioritization, efficient delivery, and higher impact. For decades, Saudi Arabia's traditional economic model delivered real gains. It built infrastructure, expanded services, developed cities, created institutions, and gave the Kingdom a central role in the global economy. But the world around us was changing. The global economy was becoming more competitive, more diversified, more digital, and more demanding of productivity. Countries were competing more actively for investment, talent, technology, and new sources of growth. At home, our economy remained heavily dependent on oil and public spending. A young and growing population was seeking a broader range of opportunities to contribute to the Kingdom's future. At the same time, our institutions needed stronger capabilities to regulate, coordinate, and deliver in a more complex and diversified economy. This was our self-assessment. We had built national strength, but we needed to be more resilient. Vision 2030 turned that self-assessment into a national reform blueprint. The work began with a practical question: what was holding back our economy and society's full potential? In some areas, the answer was regulation; in others, it was the need for stronger institutions, better services, more competition, clearer investment conditions, or new sectors that had not yet been been opened at scale. As a result, reforms at that time needed to move across several fronts: opening sectors, improving regulation, streamlining processes, strengthening delivery, and making the investment environment more predictable. Some reforms moved quickly because the opportunities were clear. Others required deeper institutional change and will continue to mature over time. Taken together, These changes began to shift how the economy works. More room for the private sector to lead, more responsive institutions, and more importantly, more pathways for people to contribute and grow. And we began to see tangible results on the ground. We have witnessed a structural shift in the labor market, with female labor force participation doubling since 2017, reaching 34%. Women are also playing an increasingly prominent role in leadership positions. transitions, and entrepreneurship. Non-oil activities now represent 55% of real GDP, compared to 45% at the start of Vision 2030 10 years ago. Over the past 5 years, 74 non-oil activities recorded annual growth exceeding 5%, including 38 of them that grew by more than 10%. The government has also changed the way it plans and delivers. More services have been redesigned around users. More decisions are informed by better data, and delivery is tracked against clearer targets and performance indicators. Saudi Arabia, for example, now ranks number 6 in the UNE Government Development Index, up from 31 in 2022. More broadly, the role of the government has evolved. While continuing to invest in national priorities, critical infrastructure, and public services, it is increasingly focused on creating the institutional, regulatory, and market conditions that enable businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs to drive growth. This is why Vision 2030 is our pathway to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. Our approach has always placed sustainable development at the heart of the transformation already underway, which has served the 2030 Agenda through our national plans, strategies, and delivery systems. This integration allowed a shared global framework to be translated into national choices, For Saudi Arabia, that meant reflecting the 2030 Agenda in priorities grounded in our own development realities— our resources, our institutions, our opportunities, and the challenges we must manage over the long term. Making that connection practical requires structure, clear priorities, effective governance, sustainable financing, and measures of progress rooted in tangible improvements in people's lives. To provide that structure, we organized more than 90 sustainable development topics into 9 focused missions that prioritize where national action can create the greatest impact and the highest return for people, the economy, and the environment. This gives the development goals a practical home inside our national transformation. We can see this model at work in several areas. In water, one of the Kingdom's most important development priorities, national action has focused on resource security, and sustainability. Desalinated water production capacity increased from 4.6 million cubic meters per day in 2016 to more than 16 million today, while the private sector's share of desalination capacity rose from 26% in 2019 to 42% today. In health, the focus has been on expanding access and improving the way services reach people. Basic healthcare coverage increased from 84% in 2019 to 97% in 2024. We also created Suhati, the national digital health platform, which has reached more than 31 million users and delivered more than 51 million instant consultations. In energy, Saudi Arabia is investing in future technologies while continuing its role as a responsible global energy steward. Renewable energy capacity has expanded more than 500-fold since 2016, from 24 megawatts to 12.3 gigawatts in 2025. Today, more than 1.1 million housing units are powered by renewable energy, up from 150,000 in 2022. At the same time, the Kingdom is advancing clean fuels and carbon management while deploying technologies that enhance the efficiency and sustainability of hydrocarbon production and use. The same approach extends internationally, combining public institutions, multilateral partnerships, and private sector capability to address shared development priorities. The Kingdom's $500 million contribution to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, channeled through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, or KS Relief, supports the vaccination of 370 million children each year. The Saudi Fund for Development has also financed more than 800 projects and programs across over 100 developing countries spanning water, health, education, energy, infrastructure, and other national priorities. Saudi companies are also helping scale sustainable solutions across international markets. ACWA Power, for example, signed approximately $10 billion in new clean energy agreements in the last 2 years, with around $7 billion already deployed across Africa. We are also seeing a different kind of transformation at the local level, in places such as, such as Al Ula, Many small local businesses that once offered relatively simple products and services are becoming more sophisticated as tourism grows. As these ecosystems continue to mature, many of these businesses have the potential to become nationally recognized companies, with some eventually competing beyond the Kingdom. We see the same integrated approach in the restoration and protection of natural and cultural landscapes. In Riyadh, Wadi Hanifa has been transformed from a desert drainage corridor into 120 kilometers of ecological infrastructure that naturally treats around 650,000 cubic meters of wastewater each day. Landscape restoration is reviving oasis ecosystems and archaeological sites while supporting biodiversity, sustainable tourism, and local economic activity. Across the Kingdom, the Saudi Royal Reserve Program is protecting distinct ecosystems and safeguarding hundreds of endangered species, including plants, birds, and terrestrial mammals. These are important signs of progress. They also remind us that transformation is a continuous effort. As transformation matures, the challenge becomes more precise: to deepen impact, improve efficiency, and ensure that progress is felt more consistently across the economy, society, and environment. Wider labor market participation must also be matched by stronger well-being and financial inclusion. Non-communicable diseases remain a focused risk to quality of life and long-term health spending. Financial inclusion has improved, but further work is needed to strengthen financial literacy and access to appropriate financial services. Non-oil activities have grown and new sectors are gaining momentum. The next phase will focus on raising productivity and strengthening private sector competitiveness, and expanding into higher-value, more complex exports in external markets. This is where prioritization matters. Excellencies, when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, they reflected a broad and necessary ambition. They helped us look at development as an integrated agenda across the economy, society, and environment. Today, the world has more evidence than it did in 2015 We know more about what works. We know where progress is lagging. We know where implementation needs to improve. We also know that global progress is behind the pace required for 2030. This makes prioritization essential. We need to build on the momentum already created, scale what works, and tackle the areas where progress is falling short with greater urgency, better evidence, and stronger execution. This is the discipline Saudi Arabia is bringing into its next phase of transformation. Thank you very much.

I thank His Excellency Faisal bin Fadl al-Ibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia, for the presentation. The Forum will next hear the Voluntary National Review by Switzerland, and I now invite His Excellency Markus Ryobi, State Secretary of Switzerland, to make a presentation. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, in 2015, all member states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda. They had a strong conviction that the challenges of our time are interconnected and require collective responses. Today, 11 years later, one thing is clear: no government, No institution, no stakeholder can succeed alone in implementation of the SDGs. In Switzerland, the 2030 Agenda has become the benchmark drawing together the actions of all stakeholders. Our 2026 National Report and our key visuals reflect this dynamic. They tell the story of a shared commitment, shared learning, and a common desire to move forward together to a more sustainable future. The report highlights progress in a number of priority areas for our National Sustainable Development Strategy. These results are the fruit of efforts carried out at different levels by many different actors. They illustrate the importance of partnerships and cooperation. They also show that When knowledge, resources, and responsibilities are shared, concrete progress becomes possible. In a complex and difficult geopolitical context in the face of budgetary constraints, it is all the more important to talk about these positive developments, and this report also therefore tells the story of successes and our good practices. At the same time, the report highlights the fact that a number of goals remain difficult to achieve. It is clear that we are making progress, but at the current pace, it is insufficient to achieve all of our goals by 2030. And this reality invites us to properly analyze and properly understand conflicting objectives And to identify the most impactful and most important measures and to allow us to refocus our joint action. This national report doesn't have a magic wand or a magic solution, but it does seek to stimulate policy debates and the search for pragmatic and workable solutions. The outcome compared to the last 4 years is therefore mixed. Let's take the example of material consumption. The per capita material footprint has declined in recent decades, and this, this positive trend, this positive development reflects better understanding of the issues linked to the use of resources. At the same time, however, material consumption in Switzerland remains high by international standards. Let's look now at progress made in the field of Energy, and this has really been quite significant. Around 30% of the energy consumed in Switzerland today comes from renewable resources, and this represents an increase of some 60% since the year 2000. However, the renewable energy development targets set for 2035 will not be achieved even at this pace. And finally, let Let us take equality between men and women. The median wage gap in the private sector has narrowed by almost half since the year 2000. This trend is encouraging, but again, it is also insufficient to achieve full pay equality by 2030. In addition, a significant part of the wage differences remains unexplained, and therefore continued efforts are essential in order to get a genuine grasp of equality of opportunity. The statistical annex is essential for measuring progress and thus informing public action. The expertise of our Federal Office of Statistics is also going to be decisive in analyzing the impact of the 2030 Agenda on all dimensions of Sustainable Development by 2030. Our national report places strong emphasis on Switzerland's impact beyond its borders. Conversations with various stakeholders on the occasion of the presentation of the 3rd report in 2022 encouraged us to better analyze these positive spillover effects. In an interconnected world, decisions taken at the national level produce global effects, and these can be positive and negative. We're thinking, for instance, about our consumption patterns, our investment, our research, even our value chains. All of these are linked to realities that reach far beyond our territory. For a country as globalized as ours, understanding these interlinkages is indispensable for developing coherent policies. And we have taken the first step on this path thanks to the analytical work and the analyses that have been carried out. Another key strength of this report lies in the development process for it, which was participatory. The fact that the Swiss National Report is being presented by the Confederation, a representative of the city, the Mayor of Geneva, and also a youth delegate is symbolic and bears witness to this participatory process. This approach fully reflects the spirit of the 2030 Agenda, that is shared responsibility and collective action. For the first time, the drivers of sustainable development have their own chapter in our national report because Civil society, business, finance, and science all play a critical role in implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Their experiences, innovations, and initiatives complement and enrich public action.

The young people that I am representing here today want to work for a sustainable future, and to this end, we will soon be launching The first Youth Council for Sustainability and Sustainable Development in Switzerland. The Youth Council's intended impact is to strengthen the engagement of young people in sustainability policies.

Cities and territories play a decisive role in implementing Agenda 2030. Geneva was the first Swiss city to publish its local voluntary report, followed by the city of Bern and the cantons of Basel and Aargau. We have an ambitious charter that promotes local produce and nutrition for plant-based shared menus in school canteens, a proactive tree planting policy, a zero sexism goal, and implementing the rights of the child. Geneva is the capital of human rights and multilateralism, and we wish to reaffirm that in the face of the global challenges we are facing, we need strong international cooperation that is able to set a common goal and protect fundamental rights. Cities have their place in this collective effort, as demonstrated by the UN Forum of Mayors, and this is the ambition that Geneva wishes to hold high— connecting the local and the global, translating the principles of the 2030 Agenda into concrete actions, and bringing to life a vision of development based on dignity, equality, and social justice at our own level.

Faced with increasingly complex global challenges, international cooperation continues to be crucial. As regards the challenges, we have identified 4 key areas of action. Adaptation to demographic change, firstly. Secondly, fight against climate change and the fight for the preservation of biodiversity. Third, commitment to an economy that preserves resources And fourth, the use of technological developments for the service of sustainability, including AI and others. Switzerland continues to be a reliable partner committed to effective, inclusive, and results-oriented multilateralism. Sustainability is a path, and it is one that we will walk down together. So we invite you to find out more about the national report in its entirety online or through the S Digital 2030 platform. And as you know, Switzerland loves time, and this is why we're trying to fit within our time limit. But we also love chocolate. And so in keeping with our tradition, We will offer you chocolate as a source of both energy and inspiration for this last leg of the journey we take together through to 2030. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention.

I thank the representative of Switzerland and his team for that presentation and also for the chocolate.

We will now hear comments and questions from state and other participants. Delegations who wish to intervene in the interactive discussion are invited to press the microphone button on the console. Before I give the floor to the first speaker, I would like to remind delegations to kindly limit their intervention to 2 minutes each. I have no control on the software who is cutting the microphone. I now give the floor to the representative of Malaysia. to be followed by Italy, Jordan, and Germany. Malaysia, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair, and congratulations to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland for the VNR presentations. Malaysia would like to address this question to the respected delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As Vision 2030 enters its final phase, How will the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's focus on economic efficiency shape the next stage of diversification, and what should partners expect by 2030? Thank you.

I thank the representative of Malaysia. Now, Italy, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Italy congratulates Switzerland and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their VNR's successful presentations. I'm directing my question to Switzerland. Italy and Switzerland share a fair share of commonalities regarding the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, both placing the national strategy for sustainable development at the center of their VNR. In this context, your VNR, and also ours, acknowledges an important role to youth engagement within the broader stakeholders' participation, and we would like to ask you, how do you envisage continuing on this path? In particular, how do you believe it will be possible to advance on providing youth with the space and the opportunity to contribute to decision-making for sustainable development? What can we— what can be the drivers in your country and in others? Thank you.

I thank the representative of Italy. Now, Jordan, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to delegation of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland for their comprehensive presentation.

I also wish them the continued peace, prosperity, and success.

My question is to the Minister of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia performed the world's first fully robotic heart transplant and operates the world's largest virtual hospital. How has the health system been transformed in a decade and what has it meant for ordinary patients?

Thank you.

Jordan. Now Germany, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Congratulations to Saudi Arabia and Switzerland on their ambitious, forward-looking BNRs. I have a question regarding the Swiss VNR, but I would also like to thank you, Switzerland, for your active role in the VNR peer learning platform co-led by Brazil and Germany. Peer learning provides a trusted space for self-reflective participatory reporting, and Switzerland clearly has much to contribute. We were especially impressed by the systematic involvement of civil society, youth, business, finance, and academia in drafting the VNR, highlighted by a dedicated unedited page for civil society contributions. Their input clearly enriches the report. Germany also welcomes Switzerland's focus on spillover effects. The transfer of environmental impacts along supply chains is major— is a major obstacle to the Global SDGs, and Switzerland's dedicated indicator system running continuously since 2008 offers a valuable benchmark. Finally, we appreciate the pivotal role of local communities reflected in the Swiss VNR. Coordination and collaborative action across all levels of government is a key lever for accelerated SDG implementation. So now the question. You note the consistent integration of SDGs into planning, budgeting, and governance. How does this translate into day-to-day decision-making? Thank you.

Thank you, Germany. Now civil society, a major group for children and youth, to be followed by Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Qatar. Major Group for Children and Youth, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chairman, Excellencies, distinguished delegates. More than 50 years ago, the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz laid a visionary foundation for our nation, stating, we want this kingdom now and 50 years from now to be a source of enlightenment for humanity and peace. Building its future on firm foundations of faith and beneficial modern knowledge and excellence in industry and technology. Today, as a young Saudi and a representative of civil society, and in reviewing Saudi Arabia's voluntary national review alongside my colleagues, one message was clear: we are not only witnessing this transformation, we are contributing to it. Across the Kingdom, young people, volunteers, and nonprofit organizations are active partners in strengthening communities and advancing national development. The nonprofit sector's contribution to GDP has grown significantly from 0.2% to 1.4%. This progress provides strong momentum as we continue advancing towards the Saudi Vision 2030 ambition of 5%. My question to Your Excellency is, how can we work together to strengthen the measurement and visibility of youth and nonprofit sector contribution, support promising initiatives to scale, and ensure that their impact is fully reflected in Saudi Arabia's future, in their future development and progress towards the 5% ambition? Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Now, the representative of Bahrain, you have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Mr. President. We congratulate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland for presenting their voluntary national reviews and thank them for their fruitful presentations. We'd like to present a question for the delegation of Your Excellency, Saudi Arabia doubled its UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 6 years while building creative industries from scratch. How does the Kingdom see culture's role in sustainable development?

Thank you.

Thank you, Bahrain. Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Allow me at the outset to congratulate delegations of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland for their excellent presentations of their VNRs. I would like to also take the opportunity to express our appreciation for the excellent cooperation we have on the bilateral level with Switzerland on the SDG implementation process and mutual exchange of our best practices and lessons learned, which is now— which will continue during the period ahead. Also, I would like to take the opportunity to ask the question of the Swiss friends regarding their VNR. Given Switzerland's federal system and the significant competences of cantons and municipalities, how did the VNR drafting process ensure that all governmental levels were equally involved and that their contributions and data were comprehensively reflected in the VNR? I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now the representative of Qatar, to be followed by Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, United Kingdom, and the Economic Commission for Europe Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism.

Qatar, you have the floor.

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the countries that have presented their VNR today, and the State of Qatar would like to congratulate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for presenting their Voluntary National Review through this high-level political forum. We commend what has been achieved and the implementation of Sustainable Development 2030 despite what the region and the world are facing in terms of growing challenges. The State of Qatar reaffirms that the VNRs represent an important platform to exchange experiences and best practices, to foster learning, and to determine challenges and opportunities in order to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs at the national, regional, and international levels. The VNR presented today has highlighted the importance of adopting comprehensive development policies based on building strong institutions, fostering investment in human resources, and leveraging technology and partnerships to make sure that no one is left behind. The State of Qatar reaffirms its commitment to continue working to achieve the SDGs on the national level through the Vision Qatar 2030. We believe that international cooperation and partnerships are the foundation for sustainable development, and the State of Qatar, through the Qatar Fund for Development, are supporting all efforts aiming at achieving the SDGs at the national, regional, and international levels through its participation alongside the UN system and international financing institutions and regional organizations. We reaffirm that achieving sustainable and comprehensive development requires international cooperation and living up to our commitments, especially providing financial assistance and the transfer of technologies. In conclusion, we congratulate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their achievements, and we look forward to continuing our common work. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Qatar. Now, Côte d'Ivoire.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, President. I would like to align myself with the congratulations extended to Saudi Arabia and to Switzerland for their VNRs and for their progress in achieving the SDGs. Question to Switzerland, I would like you to present to us The major aspects of the steering and coordination of the implementation of the monitoring and review of the SDGs covering the different stakeholders, the different youth organizations and the territories and so on. For Saudi Arabia, what are the major points of your cooperation development strategy, especially with developing countries and specifically as regards Côte d'Ivoire. Thank you.

Merci, Côte d'Ivoire.

I think Côte d'Ivoire. Morocco.

Merci, merci, Monsieur le Président.

Thank you, Mr. President. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as Switzerland for the high-quality nature of their presentations. I have 2 questions and A question to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding energy. You mentioned that you already have 12.3 gigawatts installed already, and I would like to know how this was installed and the degree to which this contributes to electricity production in terms of other countries. And my second question is as follows: Have you also enhanced industrial integration of this energy at the level of other countries? And my next question is to be put to the representative of Switzerland. You mentioned that you have already had— that you've already improved renewable energy production in your country, but you also mentioned perhaps you did not achieve the goal set for 2030, but I would like to know what are the limits? What are the constraints? Could you share with us, please? please, why you feel that the goals have not been achieved for the reasons that you have mentioned. Thank you.

Now, United Kingdom, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, President, and we welcome all the presentations that have been made today. This question is particularly for the Minister from Saudi Arabia. We would love to hear a bit more about how you are working with international partners to support the SDG implementation, both domestically and globally. I think, as some others have asked as well, and also how you're strengthening use of data and indicators, particularly around tracking SDG progress to inform future policy decisions. Thank you.

Thank you, United Kingdom. The last speaker, Economic Commission for Europe Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism. You have the floor.

Thank you, Chair.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, we commend Switzerland for its comprehensive voluntary national review and for its inclusive engagement with civil society and other key stakeholders. However, we express deep concern regarding the insufficient progress on SDGs and the lack of political ambition for this transformative agenda. The government's own report admits failures in poverty reduction, climate action, biodiversity, gender equality, and responsible consumption. While the newly established assessment of spillover effects is a positive step, the report remains critically incomplete. It overlooks crucial negative externalities specifically illicit financial flows and the overseas impact of Swiss multinational corporations. Furthermore, the government refuses to engage in essential forward-looking debates on beyond GDP and beyond growth paradigms necessary for discussing the Beyond 2030 agenda. Despite acknowledging these gaps, the government continues to enact budget cuts in vital environmental and social sectors while simultaneously, simultaneously increasing military spending. As one of the world's wealthiest nations, Switzerland must embrace its responsibility as a global leader by actively investing in sustainability transformations and shaping the Beyond 2030 discussions. In light of these observations, we ask the Swiss delegation: How will Switzerland enhance action and policy coherence to ensure effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda over the next 4 years? How will Switzerland expand its spillover assessment include critical omitted aspects and establish robust accountability? How will Switzerland demonstrate true international leadership by actively engaging in the Beyond 2030 discussions, including on Beyond Growth economics, in full partnership with civil society and other sustainability drivers? We urge the Swiss government to match its diplomatic reputation with domestic and international action that reflects the urgency of our times. Thank you.

I thank the representative of the Economic Commission for Europe Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism. I now invite the distinguished presenters to briefly respond to the questions from the floor. Preferably within 5 minutes. I give the floor to the Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia. Your Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. I assume you mean 5 minutes per question or total?

Take your time.

Sure, sure.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I thank the representatives for their questions. From Malaysia, the question on economic efficiency. It all started with the question around how do we operate at or even push our potential. If you look back decades in the past, the Kingdom's economy was performing. However, over time, we've been operating below our potential, and operating below potential is similar to operating at a cost, and Vision 2030 came to get rid of that accumulated cost. I mean, one generation, the current generation, maybe the next 2 or 3 may bear that cost, but it's not something that you want to carry forward. So moving forward, there was a heavy burden to catch up with a lot of lost opportunity and potential, and the model was transform our economy in a manner that makes it more resilient, diversifies its sources of growth, not just sources of income or sources of revenue, and move forward, take our lessons learned and advance. In the first half of Vision 2030, we've delivered a lot and we've mentioned some of these examples on the human capital side, on the diversifying of the economy side, but then came a time where we said there is time for wiser spend, more efficiency, economic efficiency. How do we do more with less? How do we use this opportunity to shift the not just the makeup of the economy but its structure, from relying on oil revenue, from relying on public spending only, to lowering the degree at which or to which our economic activities rely on these sources. And we've mentioned how we've achieved that. And today it's about operating at the right cost. With efficiency, leveraging the power of the pen, policy, creating a clear environment for the private sector to co-lead and take off and contribute to more jobs, higher quality jobs, better and more complex exports in international markets. So I think the next period will witness even more exciting investment opportunities and stronger long-term partnership opportunities for people looking on the outside. On healthcare, to a representative from Jordan, thank you for your question. I think what's exciting about healthcare in the Kingdom is that we have a very young population, 71% below the age of 35. However, in about 18 to 20 years, that population will enter its aging phase. We've spent a lot on healthcare infrastructure in the past decades, and that created some hidden gem of potential for our economy that we intend to leverage in the next phase. We are seeking achieving productivity gains, and healthcare is a place where we can tackle a lot of our challenges and even be export-oriented. Given the examples that you mentioned that are available and many other examples that show how the private sector has succeeded in exporting services, products, and value-add in healthcare. Artificial intelligence and the use cases around healthcare also make this very exciting. Moving forward, we're looking at a traditional sector to be a potential new source of economic growth with export potential. To the representative from civil society on youth and NGO participation measurement, I think that's a very valid question. We are a young population. The NGOs are contributing more to our agenda. There are strategies specifically focused on how to engage, support, and grow NGO activity in the Kingdom. And in terms of data around that, I think that's a important thing to look at to the extent that it's useful for NGOs who we work with a lot, by the way, who for the most part are very serious, steadfast, self-motivated, and adding a lot of value to policy discussions in the Kingdom and in some cases even abroad. We can take a look at how specific data measures and track that to ensure that that momentum continues to move in a steady fashion. On energy, the representative from— or before that, I think culture's role, I think it's clear. It's 2 levels. We're preserving heritage and culture. That's something that we're proud of and very valuable, but also in preserving it, we create the underpinning of growth in the tourism activity, which we believe creates jobs and helps introduce the Kingdom to a wider set of audiences and visitors and in the future partners, customers, and maybe even residents. So that's something that's very essential, and our Ministry of Culture and their teams are doing a great job in that manner. It also is a window into creating better household income for people who work in small and medium and micro businesses tied to cultural products. On energy, Representative from Morocco, I thank you for your question. In solar and wind, the Kingdom has established strong partners with the private sector. We've managed to achieve the lowest tariff rates in these 2 energy products. But in general, taking a step back, we are still committed to being the cleanest hydrocarbon producer and a global energy steward, but also we are steadfastly moving towards having a healthy energy mix that helps us introduce renewable energy significantly and meaningfully to our local needs and potentially to our export potential. In terms of how we're working with partners on SDGs, I think on 2 levels: one, bilaterally, and 2, multilaterally, but also directly and indirectly by talking about the challenges we face in some of these goals and their sub-measures, but also by talking to our partners and friends and countries on what we've learned through our own transformation. Unlocking or pursuing to unlock your potential sets you in a different path than normal and actually puts you in a position to be able to achieve a lot of what's stated in the Sustainable Development Agenda. And we work well. We look forward to learning from our partners bilaterally and through multilateral platforms, but we're very open about sharing our experiences— what we succeeded in, what we have yet to succeed in— and that has helped us a lot in that direction. Multilaterally, we're engaging and becoming more vocal with our partners on multiple levels. If you look at the IMF's meeting and the Doha Declaration recently, that's another example of how the Kingdom is becoming more consequential on the multilateral platform level. And I believe the key thing is to show up, participate, engage honestly and transparently, and be genuine about pursuing change and contributing lessons learned. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Minister. I now give the floor to His Excellency Markus Ruby, State Secretary of Sweden.

Thank you, Mr. President. Merci.

Thank you. I would like to thank Germany, as well as civil society, Italy, Morocco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Côte d'Ivoire for your questions. We have distributed chocolate in the hope that the questions would not be too difficult to respond to. So I will attempt to— and begin with the question put Thank you. The next question is by Germany, and this is a question on planning. We have 2 facets. We have the legislative planning process, and integration of the SDGs into legislative planning is of key significance for us when it comes to achievement of results. And this is being done for planning— legislative planning over the course of 4 years. Presently, we have the 2032 2023 to 2027 framework, and we are working on the forthcoming 2028 to 2031 period. Second, we have the steering process, and our government has established a particular architecture to see to it that the SDG 16 is achieved. Those, those focused on the direct supervision and guidance committees to ensure that these bodies be established in an adequate way and incorporated into sectoral policies. Turning to the question from civil society, what will guide our efforts around ensuring coherence? Our efforts will be guided by effectiveness and efficiency concerns. This is set out in the report, and by measures that have the greatest impact. As well as by a participatory approach which allows for all of the relevant stakeholders to make their contribution. And on the basis of all of this, we are currently working on the action plan, the 2008 to 2031 action plan, and civil society has been brought in and engaged in all of these. Second, turning to spillover, addressing the repercussions It would— this would be beneficial for research institutions. There's a need to find the data to make the calculations for the indicators that we have developed. And third, we took the opportunity of the high-level political forum being held this year in order to deepen our thought to consideration of the Beyond 2030 scenario. Switzerland does not yet have a very clear vision, but we are prepared for any kind of scenario. And it is also very clear that civil society will be engaged both in our— when it comes to our position and positioning in view of 2030 and beyond 2030. Third, the question from Morocco having to do with renewable energies. Switzerland has been benefiting from excellent bases of hydraulic energy, water, and solar energy, as well as wind power. And we are definitely a leader. But there are certain delays, and these are attributable to political obstacles, geographical obstacles, as well as social obstacles. And the direct democracy procedures at times do slow down certain developments. We have a federalist structure, challenges related to the winter, and there are issues particularly that arise during the wintertime. But when it comes to solar developments, progress has been encouraging. Fourth, I would— I will mention— I will address Bosnia-Herzegovina and Côte d'Ivoire together. The question having to do with the federal system. In order to host data and to bring in the views of international actors, we have established a digital platform. It is called SDigital2030. The cantons and the local bodies bring in information and contributions, and this is accessible to the public. There is no censorship here. And everybody has an opportunity to see who is contributing to what. And that is the first— that's the first aspect. We have also organized workshops where we invite international actors, and we have also built direct links in our national reports, and these establish local perhaps the Mayor of Geneva may mention the Geneva Report and how synergies have been established at the local level.

My presence as mayor at the Swiss delegation reflects the commitment for cities and for regions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and we have had an ongoing constructive dialogue, participatory workshops, methodologies have been established, and this has all allowed us to establish this focus on a broader framework of the United Nations, the national framework, regions, and then also the city of Geneva. For us, it is very important for us to have ties to national-level policies to ensure that there's consistency there, and at the city level, as I mentioned, The Mayors Forum is held each year in Geneva, and this is an opportunity for us to share comparative analyses, to share views on global challenges, but also about pragmatic solutions that we can arrive at at the urban level.

The question from Italy, last but not least. I will now give the floor to Madame Berthold to provide information about the Youth Council.

Thank you very much. As was mentioned in the presentation, we will soon launch a Youth Council for Sustainable Development, and this will work in close cooperation with delegates from federal councils in order to ensure that the proposals from young people for a sustainable future are taken on board. And this is a long-term partnership which has now been made formal. And this is critical in order to ensure that there be a real impact and to ensure meaningful engagement on the part of young people.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to thank His Excellency, Faisal bin Fadl al-Ibrahim, Minister of the Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia, and His Excellency Markus Leobi, Secretary of State of Switzerland, as well as the team.

Thank you. I now briefly pause the meeting, very briefly, to allow the podium to be rearranged. And I invite the VNR presenters of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tunisia To approach the podium and take their seats.

Here and the background.

How do I justify it to you, Sivan, if I— if we don't have the stuff? Thank you. Distinguished delegates, dear colleagues, for the 3rd set of panel presentations, I am pleased to welcome the distinguished presenter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tunisia. Before we begin with the presentation, I would like to appeal to the presenting country to adhere to the agreed 10 minutes per presentation. Thank you, Mr. President. The Forum will first hear the voluntary national review by Tunisia, and I now invite His Excellency Samir Abdel Hafeed, Minister of Economy and Planning of Tunisia, to make the presentation. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you very much, Excellency. Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for Tunisia to present our 3rd Voluntary National Report for 2026, and through this exercise, our country is renewing our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. Preparation of the report was done jointly by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Migration, as well as Tunisians abroad and the Ministry of Economy and Planning, and with support provided by a national steering committee, a technical committee, and 17 working groups. The methodology is based on a multidimensional approach, bringing together quantitative, qualitative, and systemic tools which are based on 5 complementary components: standardized collection of data, modeling interactions and synergies, international alignment, and RIA analysis, which reflect the fact that 89.3% of the SDG targets are covered by Tunisian public action. Dettiger Prize, which shows that of the 203 applicable indicators, 44.3% indicators were measured with a prioritization on targets that have emerged— brought about a common bedrock of 8 core targets. And collective mobilization, large-scale collective mobilization has been initiated, and this has allowed for for all stakeholders to be involved. Ladies and gentlemen, it is important to also underscore the fact that first and foremost, Tunisia is a pioneer country, a leading country in Africa when it comes to local implementation of the SDGs through the fact that we have joined the Global Local 2030 Coalition. And this reflects the ability to implement the first voluntary national review of Tunisia through the Commune du Nord in the Kasserine Governorate in the centerwestern part of Tunisia. Second, all Tunisian public policies continue to be governed by the core principle of leaving nobody behind. And this is done through the targeting of social transfers for 386,000 families, 26% increase increase in the budget dedicated for young people, and offers have been provided for specific family accommodations. And a strategy has been established, a national 2022 to 2030 strategy for older persons, an offer of alternative pathways through schools, the Second Chance and New Chance schools. And these have provided for 80% percent of beneficiaries to be integrated into the system, and rehabilitation for informal neighborhoods for a large number of residents has been provided. This is 1.7 million people who have benefited. There is a focus on local— on the relevant SDGs. And for SDG 6, clean water and sanitation, a number of structural reforms have been initiated, by Tunisia. And for example, we would mention the drafting of the Water 2050 Strategy for a more inclusive hydric system and the establishment of an 80% goal by 2050 for the reuse of wastewater that has been treated, and the signing in 2023 of a trilateral agreement with Algeria and Libya relating to the joint management of shared aquifers.

Thank you.

These reforms have resulted in 4 new desalination centers being made operational and a first cloud-related system, and wastewater is being recycled, and access of drinking water for 98% of the population.

Thank you.

about 0.7% of the people, and there has been a 28% increase in public investments in the hydraulic sector. And for 2030, for the 2030 horizon, there is a focus on establishment of a hub for providing support to implementation of SDG 6, and we have established a regional hub, and we have allocated $332. 5 million dinars for rehabilitation of networks and the intelligent computing systems. Turning to SDG 7, clean energy at an affordable cost, the energy transition establishes a transitional energy transition mechanism with a generation of energy from renewable sources as well as since 2024 there have been Tax benefits covering 50% of expenditures related to technological innovations, and these efforts have facilitated the share of energy— renewable energy increasing from 2.3% in 2021, rising to 6% in 2025, and now that figure stands at 9%. And energy intensity of our economy has also dropped. by nearly 10%, and a 98.8% rate has been achieved for clean energy use, including liquefied natural gas. For the SDG 7, Prospects by 2030, this focuses on a 30% reduction in primary energy consumption. Modernization, digitalization, and the flexible nature of the national electrical network through the Smart Grid Project. And this has been endowed with a €121 million budget. The ELMED Project is dedicated to electrical interconnection between Tunisia and Italy. And there's been an increase in the share of renewable energies to 30%. Thank you. 35% of the electrical mix by 2030. This is an ambitious objective. Turning to SDG 9, Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, we have sought to reshape the labor code to prepare a second generation of the Startup Act mechanism, as well as to implement industrial strategy and innovation for 2035. 2025, as well as to improve the business environment. And this has particularly allowed us to achieve unemployment reductions from 16.6% in 2021 to 15.2% in 2025. And the manufacturing sector share in GDP is now at 14%. And there is a national labeling for more than 1,100 startups. Turning to prospects related to SDG 9, and this has to do, inter alia, with the promotion of industrial clusters as well as the development of technopoles, so-called technopoles, and the achievement of structural projects. A national statistical mechanism, a carbon adjustment mechanism, alongside borders has been established. And we have a Hub Industry 4.0, which has been deployed to reduce the regional digital gaps. And we have implemented— we have a final draft of the National AI Strategy. Turning to SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, we have worked to see to it that the urban national policy has been updated, and we have also deployed a RESCAT program in those regions particularly vulnerable to climate risks. And we have also implemented local voluntary reviews, and this has allowed us today to have a housing ownership rate of 75.1% at the national level, and that number is Higher than 92% in rural areas, and 315 informal neighborhoods have been rehabilitated, so to speak. The waste collection rate increased from 55% in 2021 to 63% in 2025. Turning to SDG 11 on the mobilization of the most innovative technologies for sustainable housing and strategic use of space technologies, as well as the design of public spaces that are more inclusive, safer, as well as adapted to address the needs of citizens. Turning to the last, uh, SDG 17 on partnerships, we have initiated reforms, the purpose of which is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of, uh, of coverage, transparency, and when it comes to fiscal issues as well as other financing-related issues for innovative projects, particularly focused on the green transition and technologies. Achievement of this goal focuses in Australia on increasing resources owned by the state in the fiscal component, and these have increased increased, uh, from 88% to 91%, and there has been a 30.3% increase in direct foreign investments as compared to 2024. And now for 2030, our goal is to continue to enhance regional international economic integration as well as to ensure diversification of our partnerships. As well as international partnership, which continues to play an important role for us, a decisive role through economic diplomacy, which is resolutely focused on regional cooperation, South-South and triangular cooperation, as well as mobilization of investments and access to innovative financing for the achievement of the SDGs. I would like to conclude, Excellencies, with the challenges And the report and the review has identified a number of them, including the water-energy infrastructure nexus-based approach needs to be adopted by us, and this needs to be established as a bedrock for our future resilience. And territorialization of public policy, as well as access to water, to health, and to a clean environment It needs to be made a constitutional— as a constitutional law, or to be established a national— the foundation for a national strategy to contribute to development and sovereignty. And fourth, there needs to be a cross-cutting position held by partnerships within this global architecture, financing for the necessary transformations enhanced by growing mobilization of indirect foreign investments, public-private partnerships, as well as Using innovative financing, and this is today's an opportunity for us to convey our gratitude to our international partners, in particular United Nations agencies. Thank you.

Je remercie le ministre.

I thank the Minister for Economy and Planning. Thank you, Minister of Planning of Tunisia, for that presentation.

The Forum will next hear the voluntary national review by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And I now invite His Excellency Zenon Ngei Mukongo, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations to make the presentation. You have the floor, sir.

Merci beaucoup.

Thank you very much, President. President, I would like at the outset to apologize on behalf of His Excellency Guillain Nyambu Mbuyiza, Minister of State, Minister of Planning and Coordination of Development Aid of the DRC, He would have liked to be here in New York to present— to deliver this presentation with the eloquence for which he is known, but unfortunately he was not able to make it here to New York, and so I will deliver this presentation on his behalf. And so as regards the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo, we have covered SDG 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17. And we will say as follows: since our last voluntary national review, the DRC has undertaken ambitious structural reform in order to step up attainment of the SDGs and to sustainably improve the living conditions of our population. So amongst these efforts, we have the extension of the social safety nets with the implementation implementation of universal sanitation coverage. We also have gradually operationalized school canteens in order to break the connection between malnutrition or undernutrition and school performance. We've strengthened basic education. More than 21 million children have been enlisted in school in 2023-2024 compared to just 14.7 million in 2019. And we have promoted public-private partnerships with a law aligned with international standards to encourage improvement in this area. We also have a portfolio of priority projects for public private partnerships. But the global multidimensional crisis is hampering our progress. Notably, the development momentum is facing a resurgence of armed conflict, climate crises, but also an unstable international context. And in addition to this instability, we face an unprecedented contradiction terms of official development assistance globally. As regards SDG 6, clean water and sanitation, we can reaffirm that between 2020 and 2025, the proportion of the population having access to a source of drinking water has gone from 57.6% of the population to 58.6% of the population despite sustained investment. Some of this has been absorbed by demographic growth that is estimated at 3% per year and faced with growing urbanization, the DRC is investing in infrastructure for water supplies in the urban area. These efforts have made it possible possible to increase the production, uh, or increase total production by 42 million cubic meters, achieving 591 million cubic meters produced in the last year. SDG 7, increasing the energy off of clean energy. We have liberalized the energy sector in the country with the aim of achieving harmonious development of energy provision in urban, peri-urban, and rural sectors. The results so far are very encouraging because the total installed power has increased by some 20% in these 5 years, going from nearly 3,000 megawatts in 2020 through to 646 megawatts in 2024. There are new projects aimed at improving this by further 2.5 megawatts. In addition to this, we can— we will be able, if we continue at this pace, be able to double our installed power and photovoltaics represent on their own 80% of projects under construction at the moment. Globally, by 2024, 73,499 rural households will have had access to sustained private connections. Just over 26,000 households have been connected to mini networks of private providers, and 30,127 households have benefited from individual solar systems, and 550 public illumination points have been set up. As regards SDG 9, the DRC has gone for a multimodal transport system and is massively investing in road construction. Since 2023, 1,305 kilometers of road have been laid, bringing our total road stock from 6,000 kilometers— to 6,000 kilometers, apologies, compared to 5,065 previously. We have also seen considerable progress in telephone communications and mobile internet. In 6 years, the number of mobile telephone subscriptions has increased by 81%, and the level of penetration has gone from 46% in 2020 to 66% in 2025. In terms of diversifying the economy and the industrial base, the government is implementing 6 special economic zones. Pilot zones of Maluku, for instance, has— is now operational, and this has enabled the creation of more than 2,000 direct jobs and 8,000 indirect jobs. And once at full capacity, it should generate between 6,000 and 8,000 direct jobs. As regards SDG 11, Sustainable Communities and Cities. Getting a handle on urbanization represents a major challenge for the DRC. The urban population will go over 50% by 2030, and this means that there will be growing pressure on urban infrastructure. There are a number of different initiatives underway to contain the impact of this, and This is part of the MetroKin project, for instance, and this is a transport initiative aimed at improving and modernizing mobility at Kinshasa with an urban train covering 300 kilometers and also the Kinshasa-Kiyamona project, which is a major urban extension initiative. As regards SDG 17, achieving The SDGs by 2030, this requires significant means for the DRC. We have a roadmap for stepping up the SDGs developed by the government, and it is set to be at a cost of $70 billion USD in a context of reduced foreign financing. The DRC has seen a drop in ODA that has gone from 5.8% of GDP in 2020 to 4.2% in 2025. In order to achieve effective partnerships, we have put in place reform measures and fiscal cleanup measures, and we hope to multiply by 5 our revenue. The DRC continues to be committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs. And despite notable progress, there are challenges in terms of security, demographics, and other issues, and they continue to hamper our progress towards the SDGs. And this calls for greater mobilization from all of our partners. The DRC has made tangible progress on the path to sustainable development, but we are cognizant of the considerable gap that exists between the progress that we have made and the progress that is needed in order to get on the right track for achieving the SDGs. 4 years away from the deadline, the DRC hopes to strengthen mobilization and our progress and to consolidate our partnerships in order to sustainably get ourselves on the path and on track for the SDGs with strong local rooting.

I thank you.

I would like to thank His Excellency Znoengemu Kongo, the Permanent Representative of the Congo for— the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for His presence and for overcoming the challenge of replacing his minister at the last minute, who unfortunately was unable to join us here in New York. We are now going to hear some remarks and questions from member states and from other participants, and so I would. Invite you to press the microphone button if you wish to take the floor. Before I give the floor to the first speaker from the floor, I would like to recall— rather, to remind delegations that they should please limit their interventions to a maximum of 2 minutes. And so I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lebanon. They will be followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, and Norway. Lebanon, you have the floor.

Thank you, President. First of all, I would like to thank Thank Tunisia and the DRC for their exhaustive presentations in relation to their voluntary national reviews, their VNRRs, and we welcome the efforts of Tunisia and the DRC in achieving the 2030 Agenda, and we thank them also for their encouragement for others. For Tunisia, question: the framework of climate change and global warming especially as regards Tunisia. You said that Tunisia has adopted a strategy through 2050. Could you give us a little bit more information about this strategy by 2050? Thank you.

Thank you, Lebanon. United Kingdom, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you, all of you, for your presentations. And my question is to the DRC. We recognize and thank you for your leadership on the Ebola response, which we know has been impacting communities and frontline workers, along with the conflict in the eastern part of the country. Given these current shifts, how are you planning to adapt coordination structures and scale up finance to be able to sustain interventions and deliver results? And how could the Ebola response be used as a catalyst to build stronger and more resilient health systems, including in some of those conflict-affected areas?

Thank you. Italy, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

We congratulate Tunisia and Democratic Republic of Congo for their successful presentations. I will be directing my question to Tunisia. Italy and Tunisia are working together within the Partnership Platform for Localizing the SDGs, acknowledging the role of SDG localization. How is Tunisia ensuring the integration of Sustainable Development Goals into its national development planning while strengthening the role of local and regional stakeholders.

Thank you. Thank you, Italy. And now civil society financing for development mechanism. You have the floor.

Monsieur le Président.

President, Society welcomes this voluntary national report in 2026. This is an opportunity to see how far we have come and the persistent challenges in a context marked by human displacement, health crises, and armed conflict. Just 14% of the SDGs are on the right track, but around a third are regressing. The significant demographic growth puts a lot of pressure on education, healthcare, social protection, and employment. It goes beyond the capacity of institutions and limits the outlook for development for all. It is therefore essential that we strengthen the capacity of the Observatory on Sustainable Development in order to ensure better monitoring of SDG across all provinces of the DRC. In zones affected by conflict, access to water, sanitation, electricity, and to essential services continues to be very limited. Women, young people, and persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and rural communities continue to be the most impacted. Furthermore, the exacerbation of the security crisis in the east of the country and the Ebola crisis, which has been declared urgent, is having a negative impact. Civil society calls for urgent, coordinated, and transparent action and addresses the following questions. How will the government guarantee universal access to water and energy in rural areas affected by conflict, where there is an absence of basic services which fuels instability? How are you going to protect civic space and guarantee direct financing to local organizations of women and young people and disabled persons to enhance social cohesion? Faced with persistent crises, what is the national strategy to bring humanitarian action together with sustainable development to ensure that peace is a true driver of the SDGs. I thank you.

Thank you, civil society. I now give the floor to Nigeria. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Let me also thank both the representatives of Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for their insightful briefings on the VNRs. My question goes to the representative of Tunisia.

Nigeria's SDG implementation strategies have highlighted the importance not only of subnational ownership, data systems, and multi-stakeholder partnerships. My question is this: how has Tunisia addressed these dimensions in its 2026 Voluntary National Review, and what innovations have proven most effective?

Thank you.

Thank you, Nigeria. Women's Major Group.

I am Rabeba Aloui from Tunisia and I will be speaking on behalf of the NGOs and the Women Major Group. We commend Tunisia for presenting its 3rd VNR and for its continued engagement with the 2030 Agenda. However, while the report highlights several achievements, we regret that it doesn't fully follow the structure and integrated approach of SDGs framework. We are particularly concerned that the review provides no substantive assessment of progress under SDG 5.a and didn't adequately address the challenges faced by rural women. To strengthen the credibility, inclusiveness, and effectiveness of the national development process, we recommend ensuring greater transparency by publishing the methodology, indicators, data sources and participatory mechanisms used in the preparation of the VNR, developing urgent and comprehensive recovery plans for essential public services and social protection systems, mainstreaming a feminist approach that places SDG 5 at the center of climate, economic, and social justice policies. After reviewing this 3rd VNR, we would like to ask, in the framework Of the National Development Plan 2026-2030, what concrete reforms will the government implement to address the persistent unemployment of university graduates? Beyond the social security measures introduced in the Financial Law 2026, what long-term measures are being developed to ensure that the private sector creates decent, sustainable employment opportunities? Regarding SDG 4, Will the Supreme— when will the Supreme Council for Education complete the curriculum reform process to align education and training system with emerging sectors including the digital economy, renewable energy, and green industries in order to address the current skills mismatch and support—

I thank the representative of Women's Major Group. I now give the floor to the last speaker, the State of Palestine. You have the floor.

Thank you, President. First of all, we'd like to thank the DRC and Tunisia for their presentations. We thank them for their efforts to achieve the SDGs and Agenda 2030, and we congratulate them on their performance in the World Cup. We have a question for Tunisia. 2,000 kilometers separate Tunisia and Palestine, but the Mediterranean Sea continues to be the link between the 2 countries. Can you give us more information about the efforts of Tunisia to strengthen cooperation, to protect the Mediterranean, and to strengthen the sustainable management of maritime resources?

Thank you.

I thank the representative Thank you very much, Mr. President of Palestine, for the statement. I now invite the presenters to briefly, very briefly, respond to the question from the floor within not more than 5 minutes each. Thank you. I now give the floor to the distinguished minister of Tunisia.

Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.

كل المتدخلين على اهتياج.

I would like to thank all of the delegations for their interest in Tunisia's. I will begin by addressing Lebanon's question about our strategy for water resources by 2050. This is a strategy that is qualitative and it is focused on 5 pillars: water sovereignty and strengthening nontraditional sources, order to achieve equality in terms of access, strengthening agriculture, reducing the cost, and strengthening the link between energy, water, and digital governance, as well as migration. We're also strengthening desalination in order to ensure that thousands of cubic meters of clean water are achieve— this is our goal— by 2050. We're also working for better use of available resources, including guaranteeing a percentage for agriculture. We're also going to be strengthening resources to combat wasting of water. We also are installing smart meters and also natural aquifers. We hope to cover 25% of our energy uses through renewable energies and we're establishing innovative programs for solar energy, for instance. This is one example that we also seek to diversify sources of financing for water resources and different types of water technologies. Thank you very much for that question. To respond to the question posed by Italy. We have very close links with Italy in a number of different sectors, local sectors as well. As part of our program for 2026 through 2030, Tunisia, for the first time in its history has gone from a decentralized approach to a more participatory approach based on local consultations and also national consultations. And we're working locally and regionally And we're working together with a number of different ministries to produce development reports, and we've also worked together with—

We have brought together all of these reports under the Ministry for Economy and Planning. We have prepared a final plan, and this includes This includes a plan for 2026 to 2030, and last week we have approved the development plan at the national parliament. And in this way, the plan was accepted at the society level, particularly when it comes to those goals which are in alignment with the SDGs. Likewise, and with support from the United Nations UN-Habitat Program, Tunisia has also enhanced the SDGs at the national level. And this has been done in partnership with local actors, including civil society, women, and young people, in order to take informed decisions. And in this regard, the National Voluntary Review is an opportunity for us in west of— in north and western Tunisia, where there was a pioneer— there was a landmark first National Voluntary Review in Tunisia, in the north of Africa. And this was a milestone. And through these mechanisms which bring in participation, which is a main way to address the concerns expressed by the populations and to transform these concerns and these expectations into national concrete plans and in order to incorporate the SDGs in national planning. Thank you.

Ilya.

As for Nigeria, and regarding the question on the local ownership of the Sustainable Development Goals, when preparing our 3rd report on the SDGs, Tunisia was keen on doing this— doing it in a participatory manner, and all stakeholders have contributed. At the governmental level, 17 teams took part in preparing this report, including 120 representatives of various ministries and public institutions under the supervision of a national committee and with technical support from experts. We have also conducted several consultations Whether directly or virtually, that included the private sector and several stakeholders on the regional level, in addition to students, youth, and disabled people. And we took into account their concerns and proposals that were integrated in the report. This approach allowed us to reinforce the participation of all stakeholders in the process.

Turning to the last 2 questions— first of all, thank you, Nigeria. For the last 2 questions, one question that had to do with women and the status of women in Tunisia, I would recall the fact that Tunisia is the only country— the only Arab country, and this is with great pride that we state this— the only Arab country that in recent years have had 2 women heads of government. And this is a reflection of the importance attributed to the status of women in Tunisia. And we have also adopted a great number of reforms and economic as well as social policies, the purpose of which is particularly to address the need for the protection of women— rural women who contribute enormously to local development. And when it comes to the question of unemployment, youth unemployment in particular, yes, indeed, The issue of unemployment does exist. Approximately 15.2% is the average rate to date. But this rate varies based on when one considers various social categories. And this is high for young people with diplomas. And so we have an economic development program for the period up until 2030, and this includes a strategy a strategy whose major focus is to ensure the alignment between college graduates and the needs of the job market, in addition to skills conversion and reskilling programs that already exist, which will then be reconverted in order to meet the market needs, both at the local level and international level. And I would conclude with the Mediterranean Sea. This is a common asset. Tunisia, Algeria, and France, we all share those— the countries to the south of the Mediterranean and the north of the Mediterranean. Palestine also. I think that this is a common good, and the protection of the Mediterranean Sea is a responsibility of all. And we think that Tunisia is doing everything possible to protect it, because for us, the Mediterranean Sea is also a resource for life. Thank you.

I thank the ministers, says the President. And I would like to give the floor to my colleague Zanon, and begging him to be brief, please.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. I will try— I'm not an expert in that area, but I will try to respond to the question posed by the United Kingdom. Financing for SDGs remains at the heart of implementation of the National Strategic Plan for the period of 2020 to 2028, and the DRC has approximately $100 billion financing which is outstanding for transformative innovations and for acceleration of progress towards the SDGs. And in this regard, the DRC intends to mobilize all financing sources while at the same time enhancing coordination of the main stake— among the main stakeholders. And this includes first and foremost the mobilization of internal revenues, domestic revenues in the context of a drastic reduction of foreign resources, including official development assistance. We have stepped up efforts for mobilizing domestic resources. In 5 years, we have doubled our domestic revenues, and this is a reflection of an unprecedented level of commitment. But there is still some leeway when it comes to continuing to enhance our ability for mobilization, specifically when it comes to the mining sector. Second, prudent debt policies. We are among the least developed debt— indebted countries in Africa. less than 30% of GDP is what debt represents. And there were difficulties related to the recent past with high levels of debt. And despite that, we have engaged in prudent debt practices. We have refocused on investments with high positive yield. And we have raised $2 billion through Eurobonds. And these resources are completely focused on implementation of transformative projects including energy, transport, and roads. Third, a public-private partnership. For the DRC, there is no doubt that the achievement of the SDGs also hinges on involvement of the private sector as well as bilateral partners. And in this way, we have strengthened our institutional framework for fruitful public-private partnerships. We have a dedicated law which aligns with international standards. This law was adopted and it is currently being revised to fine-tune it. And for effective and coherent PPPs, we have also a portfolio of 40 projects, PPP mature structuring— structural and priority ones. And this dedicated structure has also been set up. For efficient management and integrated management of the public-private partnerships. Fourth, innovative and dedicated financing. For specific questions, we also have innovative and other forms of financing that we harness. We have health promotion tax that we have implemented, which is a— which is a derives from certain sales. And this tax helps to finance the healthcare system. The DRC is currently also finalizing a strategy to finance school cafeterias. And this is currently being established through innovative financing mechanisms. And lastly, in terms of the climate, it is a euphemism to recall the fact that the DRC is at the very

Yes, thank you.

Yes, the DRC is a key part of the fight against climate change.

Unfortunately, the country is not benefiting from the relevant resources in light of the challenges, and so coordinated efforts are currently underway to ensure greater mobilization of climate-related international financing. And domestically, the DRC is currently implementing a carbon tax with a two-pronged goal: to reduce emissions and to increase resources for climate— for targeted climate-related initiatives. And we would also like to recall the fact that despite these significant efforts, we continue to face urgent and competitive needs when it comes to having access to sufficient resources, particularly in the context of the armed aggression which we are enduring, but also in the context of the emergence of the Ebola epidemic. Beyond the financial relevant contributions and support, our government is also counting on international cooperation to have access to additional resources, specifically when it comes to addressing those above issues. And this is why our minister was unable to travel to New York for this meeting. With that, I thank you and stop here.

I wish to thank His Excellency Samir Abdel Hafeed, Minister of Economy and Planning of Tunisia, and His Excellency Zenon Nge Mukongo, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations. I also thank delegations for their valuable contribution. Dear colleagues, we have thus completed our programme of work for this long, long meeting. The Forum will reconvene tomorrow morning at 10 AM sharp in this conference room to hear messages from the UN Environmental Assembly and regional perspectives on SDG implementation, as well as further voluntary national presentation. The meeting is adjourned.