Our Work on the Sustainable Development Goals in Ukraine

In September 2015 the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York hosted the UN Sustainable Development Summit, which approved new development targets. The final document from the summit, ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 supporting targets. Like other UN Member States, Ukraine joined the global process of sustainable development. A participatory and inclusive process to adapt the SDGs to the Ukrainian context was launched to establish a national strategic framework for Ukraine up to 2030 based on the principle ‘leave no one behind’. Every global target was reviewed, taking into consideration the specific national context. In an open process to contextualize the SDG targets, the High-Level Interministerial Working Group for the organization of the process of implementing the SDGs for Ukraine and 17 Working Subgroups (one for each goal) were set up. Over 800 experts from the subject areas covered by the SDGs — officials, managers, specialists from UN agencies, diplomats, scientists, economists, demographers, health professionals, epidemiologists, ecologists, educators, journalists, businessmen, leaders of non-governmental organizations and other civil society representatives — joined the national SDGs identification process. The process of setting targets and establishing the baseline for further monitoring launched the national discourse on measuring social progress in general and improving the national statistical system. It is necessary to create an open platform to ensure the broad participation of all stakeholders in monitoring progress to achieve the goals.