The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity, is presently in its early years of implementation. There are many positive signs - such as the widespread adoption into countries' own development plans and strategies, and the setting up of coordinating structures and mechanisms for implementation. At the same time, certain other indicators - for example lowered projections for economic growth, or long running patterns of inequality among many different dimensions - can be cause for concern. The current year's review at the HLPF, around the theme of “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”, is a timely occasion to take stock of the overall objectives of the Agenda, and to assess current status and trends, as well as emerging issues that have the potential to significantly affect achievement over the years to come. Speakers at this session will bring their unique perspectives to bear on these issues, and indicate what they see as priorities needing urgent consideration.

A multi-level architecture is required to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development: with the national level as the lynchpin of the framework for action on, and review of, the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, through regional peer learning, and to the global level with exchange of lessons learned, gaps identified and momentum reinvigorated for further action. In this context, the regional level serves as an important nexus where feedback loops from bottom to top, and vice versa. This session will feature key regional and sub-regional players, including the Executive Secretaries of the United Nations Regional Commissions, who will exchange regional experiences to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The session will also focus on the role of regions to foster coherence between local and global levels and engage in an interactive discussion with Member States, representatives of regional and sub-regional governmental organizations, major groups and other stakeholders.

The 2030 Agenda recognized that “eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” The multi-dimensional nature of poverty requires us to go beyond economic growth to address the root-causes and the factors that perpetuate these conditions; it requires us to end hunger and food/nutrition insecurity; it requires access to basic, quality services such as health care, education, water and sanitation, sustainable energy; it requires a clean environment where everyone can have good health and prosperity; it requires social protection, empowerment, and opportunities for decent work; it requires inclusiveness and special attention to marginalized and vulnerable groups, the furthest behind, and to eliminate the discriminations against them; it requires sensitivity to the widening disparities and inequalities within and among countries and both in urban and rural areas. This session addresses the theme through the lens of its multi-dimensional nature. A panel of experts with diverse backgrounds will facilitate discussions aiming at deepening understanding and appreciation of the various dimensions and their inter-connections, in the process of which practical recommendations will be made. A short Q&A session will follow.

This session is the first of the sessions to look in-depth into one of the SDGs but at the same time not losing sight of inter-linkages among the rest of the SDGs. The session will examine interlinkages and implication for policy-making and implementation to realize this goal bearing in mind in particular that to eradicate poverty, its causes and manifestations must be fully understood and addressed. Poverty eradication can only be achieved when interconnected factors are addressed together. Such factors include inclusive growth, livelihoods and decent work, social protection, access to basic infrastructure and services, food security, nutrition, health, education, empowerment of women and girls, environmental sustainability, governance and more equitable access to opportunities and distribution of income and wealth. Poverty eradication demands cross-cutting, coherent initiatives that make people less vulnerable, reduce the risks of setbacks, break patterns of discrimination, and enable all women and men to fully participate and benefit from economic growth. Concerted effort is needed to tackle the most prevalent and reoccurring constraints to eradicating poverty and these will be examined by a panel of experts that will facilitate an interactive discussion among all participants at the meeting and provide recommendations to policy-makers based on latest information and data, as well as experiences and lessons learned that have worked in a number of countries.

This session will bring together a diverse group of experts and stakeholders in an interactive dialogue on progress in ensuring food security, improving nutrition, and promoting food systems and agricultural practices that are sustainable, resilient and inclusive. Linking sustainable agriculture to poverty eradication and gender equality—including equal access to land and water, markets, technology and social protection—is crucial to enhancing the livelihoods smallholder farmers, and to restoring, safeguarding, developing and promoting sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resources. The scale and complexity of the food security crises caused by conflict and natural disasters have increased dramatically in recent years and represent a significant threat to sustainable development. The discussion is expected to assess progress, identify challenges at the national and international levels, and produce integrated policy solutions.

Major groups and other stakeholder (MGoS) are crucial to the successful implementation, follow-up, and review of the 2030 Agenda. In preparation for the 2017 HLPF, MGoS contributed to review processes at all levels, including at the Regional Forums for Sustainable Development (RFSDs) and through national review mechanisms.

Health is a precondition, indicator and outcome of sustainable development, and this session will explore the inter-sectoral solutions that will advance the implementation of SDG 3 and the 2030 Agenda as a whole. Like all the SDGs, Goal 3 is interwoven throughout the Agenda, with its targets directly linking to targets in other goals including 2.2 (end all forms of malnutrition) 4.1 (free, equitable and good-quality secondary education), 4.2 (good-quality early childhood development), 4.7 (knowledge and skills for sustainable development), 5.2 (eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres), 5.3 (eliminate all harmful practices, including female genital mutilation), 5.6 (universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, 6.1 (access to drinking water), 6.2 (access to sanitation), 7.1 (access to modern energy services), 9.5 (enhance scientific research /increase number of R&D workers), 11.6 (air quality and municipal waste), 13.1 (resilience to natural disasters), and 16.1 (reduce violence and related death rates), among others. These interlinkages confirm that progress in health outcomes will only be achieved with progress in other related sectors, including fiscal and finance policy (e.g. taxing schemes to discourage unhealthy behaviors), nutrition, water and sanitation, air quality, road safety, education, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, migration and peace and security. The session will provide a platform for a panel of experts from a range of sectors to present perspectives on challenges, opportunities and emerging issues relevant to SDG 3 implementation.

This session will look at the implementation of goal 5 as well as interlinkages with the rest of the goals – examining a gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Despite extensive efforts made by governments to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, they continue to be subjected to discrimination, violence and harmful practices and denied the full realization of their human rights. The gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda presents an enormous opportunity to achieve gender equality, end poverty and hunger, combat inequalities within and among countries, build peaceful, just and inclusive societies, protect and promote human rights, and ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources. Through an interactive discussion facilitated by a moderator, the session will identify strategies and measures to effectively implement SDG 5, including through exploring good practices, lessons learnt, challenges and effective solutions.

This session responds to operative paragraph 14 and 16 of UNGA Resolutions 70/202 and 71/225 respectively, noting that the HLPF shall devote adequate time at its 2017 meeting and at its future meetings to continue to address the sustainable development challenges facing small island developing States. Session 9 will start with a keynote speaker addressing 2030 Agenda and SAMOA Pathway in general. Rest of the discussions will focus on Goals 1, 2 and 3. In addition to a general assessment of the state of implementation of the SAMOA Pathway, this session, featuring a panel of experts on challenges facing SIDS, will hear and discuss updates on progress made in addressing non-communicable diseases in SIDS. The burden and threat of communicable and non-communicable diseases remains a serious global concern and constitute one of the major challenges for SIDS in the twenty-first century. Equally vital is the continued need to support the right of everyone, including SIDS to have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food, the eradication of hunger and the provision of livelihoods for all at all ages. This session will also hear and discuss an update on progress made in the development of the Global Action Programme on food and nutrition security in SIDS.

The 2030 Agenda calls for leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first. Its success will therefore ultimately be measured against the progress made by those who are currently the most disadvantaged, a disproportionately large number of whom live in countries in special situations, or in pockets of deprivation in middle income countries, making the efforts being made to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations within these countries of vital importance to all. Through a moderated panel discussion and interaction from the floor, this session will address the challenges and opportunities faced by least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), middle-income countries (MICs), and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations in aligning their existing national priorities and plans to the SDGs, and in achieving progress toward the goals under review.

SDG 9 calls for building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation. It is elaborated by nine targets in these three broad areas. An objective of the session is to discuss - in an integrated way - progress towards SDG9 and high-impact actions for the coming years. Thus it will need to also explore policy coherence among the development, infrastructure, industrialization, science, technology and innovation domains. In particular, successful integrated national policy approaches will be presented during this session, with experts tapping into the wealth of information from related capacity building projects. Identification of gaps and a better understanding of what has worked will provide much needed insight for decision-makers in the SDG9 domains.

The high-level United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development was convened at UN Headquarters in New York from 5 to 9 June 2017. The intergovernmentally agreed outcome “Call for Action” enumerates actions that need to be undertaken by Governments and other stakeholders, while the voluntary commitments from the Conference spur solutions in order to address the adverse impacts on oceans, which act cumulatively and impair the crucial ability of the oceans to provide ecosystem services, contribute to poverty eradication and food security and act as climate regulator and an engine for economic growth and sustainable development. This session will look at the outcome of the Ocean Conference and the interlinkages of SDG14 and its targets to other goals and targets in order to provide further political guidance and encourage action in implementation of the SDG14. It will also feature expert presentations on inter-linkages between SDG14 and other SDGs and related targets.

An objective of the session is to explore policies and actions for advancing the science, technology and innovation for achieving the SDGs, as envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which, inter alia, also launched a UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM). The TFM now facilitates multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships through the sharing of information, experiences, best practices and policy advice among Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific community, UN entities and other stakeholders. The session will engage all three components of the TFM and elicit inputs from its experts. Co-Chairs will present the mandated Summary of the "Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs". The TFM 10-Member Group of high-level representatives will further engage the Forum's recommendations.

The integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the SDGs requires an in-depth discussion of the inter-connection between the various goals and targets. There is a large body of analytical research and evidence from many different sources, supporting integrated policy making, implementation and monitoring. Furthermore, the interlinked nature of the SDGs is also seen in the scope of the supporting statistical evidence needed to highlight how and where sustainable development is achieved. Such approaches can have transformative impacts, if they can adequately exploit synergies and minimize trade-offs. Recognizing this potential, many countries have already set up, cross-ministerial coordination mechanisms for the SDGs, as presented in their VNRs. This is will be the discussion in the first panel. In the second panel, the importance of statistics and data to support the 2030 Agenda and the much-needed statistical capacity development to strengthen national statistical systems will be highlighted by key experts from different data communities.

An objective and scientific understanding of the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development, their inter-linkages, and new and emerging issues is crucial to all aspects of Agenda 2030. Such an understanding should inform policies and assessments; at the same time, gaps and shortfalls in achievement can motivate science to find solutions.

This session will provide a broad overview of the sessions that happened throughout the week and observations by the President of ECOSOC and the USG of DESA