HLPF 2025 Prepares to Advance Inclusive, Evidence-based Solutions for SDGs

The UN system, Member States, and stakeholders are intensifying preparations for the 2025 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), convening in New York, US, from 14-23 July. Themed, ‘Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind,’ HLPF 2025 will hold in-depth reviews of five Goals – SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals).

Held under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Forum’s 2025 session will be the first after the 2024 Summit of the Future (SoF). HLPF 2025 will support the implementation of the Pact for the Future and the Political Declaration adopted at the SDG Summit in 2023, among other outcomes, with a view to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs in the five years that remain until the 2030 deadline.

The UN Secretariat’s concept note for the July session is available in PDF format. The provisional agenda (E/HLPF/2025/1) is here. An annotated programme of work for the session, dated 7 July, provides information on daily events and includes guiding questions for the thematic sessions. Background notes for the thematic sessions are here.

In addition to the official programme, the HLPF Secretariat has released the details on 12 special events taking place during the Forum:

• SDGs in Practice, from 14-23 July;
• Science Day, on 15 July;
• Local and Regional Government Forum (LRGF), on 16 July;
• Loacal2030 Coalition Special Event, on 16 July;
• HESI Global Forum, on 21 July;
• Accelerating Social Progress to Boost SDG Implementation, on 21 July;
• PGA’s Interactive Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on New Partnership on Africa’s Development, on 21 July;
• 2025 SDG Global Business Forum, on 22 July;
• Special Event on Addressing High Food Price Inflation for Food Security and Nutrition, on 22 July;
• Strengthening Climate and SDG Synergies for Accelerated Momentum Towards 2030, on 22 July;
• SDG 6 Water Action Agenda Special Event, on 22 July; and
• IPU Parliamentary Forum at the HLPF, on 22 July.

The HLPF Secretariat has also published a tentative programme of side events taking place in the margins of HLPF 2025, including off-site and virtual side events. The lists are continuously updated.

The programme for the 2025 VNR Labs is available here. VNR Labs convene on the sidelines of the HLPF to provide “an informal platform for experience sharing and reflection” on the voluntary national review (VNR) findings. They take place under Chatham House rules.

The latest Information Note on the arrangements for HLPF 2025 and the ECOSOC High-level Segment provides details on the format, venue, participation, and logistics.

The governments that will present VNRs of SDG implementation during HLPF 2025 have released the main messages of their reports. Angola, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, the Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Nigeria, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Philippines, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Africa, the Sudan, Suriname, and Thailand – a total of 37 countries – will present their VNRs at HLPF 2025.

The co-facilitators for the negotiations on the HLPF Ministerial Declaration – the Czech Republic and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – circulated a “zero draft” of the outcome document on 14 April. Member States exchanged initial views on the zero draft during an informal consultation on 5 May. Informal consultations continue.

The Major Groups have submitted position papers on the theme of HLPF 2025. Their executive summaries are compiled in a preparatory document. The contributors are “major groups and other relevant stakeholders that have autonomously established and maintained effective coordination mechanisms for participation” in the HLPF. They include: Women; Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs); Local Authorities; Workers and Trade Unions; Business and Industry; Volunteer Groups; Scientific and Technological Community; Ageing; Education and Academia; Asia-Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism; Africa Regional Mechanism for Major Groups and Other Stakeholders; Economic Commission for Europe Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism; Communities that Experience Discrimination Based on Work and Descent; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) People; and Civil Society Financing for Development (FfD) Mechanism.

The functional commissions of ECOSOC have also submitted input on the theme of the session, discussing their contributions to implementing the 2030 Agenda. Another input to the HLPF is a compilation of reports from the UN’s regional commissions (E/HLPF/2025/3). The submissions present summaries of the 2025 regional forums on sustainable development (RFSDs) that took place in Africa, the Arab Region, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Other official inputs include: the UN Secretary-General’s SDG Progress Report assessing progress made since 2015 against the global SDG indicator framework; the Secretary-General’s report outlining long-term impacts of current trends on the realization of the SDGs; and a report on the 2025 annual theme of ECOSOC and the HLPF.

Reports from other intergovernmental processes that will inform the discussions include: a progress report on the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP) (E/2025/64); a report of the ECOSOC forum on financing for development follow-up (FfD Forum) (E/FFDF/2025/2); a summary of the 2025 Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) (E/HLPF/2025/6); and a report of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) (E/2025/33).

HLPF 2025 will also draw from the outcomes of several major summits, including the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). Its outcomes will, in turn, contribute to the Second UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4), the Second World Summit for Social Development, and the UN Climate Change Conference, among other processes. [SDG Knowledge Hub Coverage of HLPF 2025][ECOSOC newsletter announcing the HLPF | subscribe to the ECOSOC newsletter]