About
Division for Sustainable Development Goals
About
MISSION STATEMENT
The Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) acts as the Secretariat for the SDGs, providing substantive support and capacity-building for the goals and their related thematic issues, including water, energy, climate, oceans, urbanization, transport, science and technology, the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), partnerships and Small Island Developing States. DSDG plays a key role in the evaluation of UN systemwide implementation of the 2030 Agenda and on advocacy and outreach activities relating to the SDGs.
POLICY ANALYSIS
The Division's work provides analytical inputs for intergovernmental deliberations on sustainable development, including through its science-policy interface. The Division leads the drafting of Secretary-General’s reports on sustainable development topics. It contributes studies and analytical inputs to the review of major conferences related to sustainable development. For this purpose, it undertakes reviews of assessments of sustainable development challenges. The Division has led the pilot versions of the Global Sustainable Development Report, which aims to strengthen the science-policy interface at the HLPF. It investigates integrated policy responses in a number of priority areas such as sustainable development goals, technology facilitation, green economy, sustainable transport, sustainable cities, oceans, climate change in the context of sustainable development and the nexus among energy, food and water. The Division also co-hosts - on behalf of DESA - the secretariat for the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, including its annual multi-stakeholder forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for SDGs (STI Forum), together with UNEP.
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING SUPPORTING NATIONAL VOLUNTARY REVIEWS
Capacity development is targeted towards translating decisions of UN intergovernmental bodies related to sustainable development into actual policies and actions on the ground. The Division, with support from its two offices away from the Headquarters, and in collaboration with other UN entities and UN country teams, focuses on supporting Member States in preparing their voluntary national reviews at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, as well as building capacity for integrated planning and policy design, linking to the national planning process key sectoral areas such as transport, agriculture, energy, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, waste management and disaster reduction, as appropriate. These activities in turn allow the Division to inform intergovernmental bodies on the relevance and impact of normative and analytical efforts at the national, regional and global levels.
INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION
The Division works to mobilize the UN system and other relevant organizations to support sustainable development strategies and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Division provides Secretariats for several inter-agency mechanisms, namely UN-Water and UN-Energy, and contributes closely to the inter-agency process on Oceans and Transport. It also co-chairs an informal mechanism, the Inter-Agency Consultative Group on SIDS.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT, PARTNERSHIPS, COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH
Sustainable development decision making requires broad participation of all. The Division therefore aims to support the effective participation of Major Groups (as defined in Agenda 21) and other stakeholders in the UN political processes, including through efforts to build their capacity, knowledge and skills base.
It also supports, facilitates and monitors multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments announced at various international sustainable development conferences through its Partnerships for SDGs online platform.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
The Division serves Member States, Major Groups and other stakeholders, as well as the general public, by providing wide access to information and knowledge for sustainable development, through its online Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform and social media outlets.
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Announcements
Division for Sustainable Development Goals
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Secretariat Building
405 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017, USA
Fax: + 1 212 963 4260
The United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), established in 2011 in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, supports Member States in planning and implementing sustainable development strategies, notably through knowledge sharing, capacity development, research, training and partnership building.
The United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), which was established in 1971 based on an agreement between the Government of Japan and the United Nations, strives to promote sustainable regional development in developing countries.
Director
Mr. Juwang Zhu
Director, Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government
Acting Director, Division for Sustainable Development Goals
Mr. Juwang Zhu leads the Division for Public Institutional and Digital Government in promoting inclusive, effective, accountable institutions that are well equipped to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 16. He also currently serves as Acting Director of the global secretariat for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a focus on providing substantive support, integrated policy analysis, building multi-stakeholder partnerships and capacity-development in the thematic areas such as natural resources, water, energy, climate, ocean, transport, science and technology, as well as special concerns of small island developing States (SIDS).
Prior to his current role, Mr. Zhu served as Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General of UN DESA from 2008 to 2013. In that capacity he advised the Under-Secretary-General on policy and management issues and coordinated the Department's substantive advice to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General on development issues and on the restructuring of UN DESA's capacity-building programme.
Mr. Zhu was Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and assisted in coordinating support for the Conference. He also contributed to the Departmental support for Rio+20 follow-up. As Director of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals from 2016 to 2019, Mr. Zhu coordinated the Secretariat support for the HLPF, the UN Ocean Conference, and the Global Sustainable Transport Conference.
Mr. Zhu graduated from the Shanghai International Studies University in 1982 and did post- graduate studies in Beijing Foreign Studies University. He has an MSC in financial economics from University of London and an MA in international relations from Webster University.
Organigram
Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG)
