Programme Summary

The numerous social, economic, political and environmental challenges faced in post-conflict Iraq and their limiting effects on human development, demonstrates the need to make the  2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a national priority. Cognizant of these challenges, the Government of Iraq adopted and embarked on the implementation of 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2018 with the signature of a project document with UNDP Iraq entitled “Support to the Government of Iraq for the implementation and monitoring of SDGs”. 

This initiative builds on the findings of consultations with Iraqi stakeholders exploring pathways to advance Agenda 2030 and the SDGs in Iraq, as prioritized in the National Development Plan (2018-2022). At the request of the Government of Iraq, this project was designed to support the mainstreaming, implementation and monitoring of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs in an integrated manner, primarily through the improvement of national technical and institutional capacities within Government central line ministries, local governments and CSOs.

Through ‘Support to the Government of Iraq for the implementation and monitoring of SDGs’ the following lines of support will be provided:

• Coordination and advisory support to the Ministry of Planning and the National Committee on Sustainable Development (NCSD) to mainstream the SDGs and their targets and indicators in the NDP and other national strategic frameworks; 
• Support to the government for the localization of the SDGs; 
• Promotion of integrated approaches to SDG implementation, starting with mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment, environment, governance, inclusion & peace-building issues and their related SDGs in national planning and monitoring frameworks, building capacities for integrated, inter-sectoral approaches to SDG based planning; 
• SDG data collection, management and dissemination capacity support, reinforcing the need for an integrated monitoring and reporting framework for the SDGs/NDP - including support to the preparation of a national report and four governorate level reports as policy platforms for promoting the SDGs and the NDP.

Young people are key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

What we have achieved so far

• Alignment and Prioritization of National and Regional Strategic Documents with SDG Targets and Indicators: The Iraq Vision 2030 has been aligned with the SDG Framework, based on the country needs – using the Rapid Integrated Assessment (RIA) tool. The NDP (2018 – 2022), Poverty Reduction Strategy and KRI Vision 2020 have been assessed using the RIA Tool to determine the level of alignment between SDG targets and indicators and national priorities in existing policy and planning frameworks at national and sub-national levels.
• Prioritization and Interlinking of Environmental Dimensions of SDGs for Iraq: The national priorities with environmental dimensions were identified as SDG 2- zero hunger, SDG 6- water, SDG 7- energy, SDG 12- sustainable production and consumption, and SDG 13- climate change, Selection was determined by the  current baselines, environmental risks and trends, as well as synergies and trade-off with other SDG targets, in line with the Implementation of the Framework of Environmental Dimensions of SDGs in the Arab region, which was adopted by the League of Arab States (LAS) at the Consultative Meeting in September 2017. UNDP Iraq will use the interactive matrix designed by the UNDP Amman Regional Hub Experts.
• The First National Voluntary Reviews (VNRs) for Iraq submitted and presented at the 2019 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF): The VNRs highlighted achievements and lessons learned through implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Iraq –extracted from an analysis of country strategic documents referencing the SDGs and their targets. National, sub-national, regional, and online consultation sessions were organized for validation the VNRs inputs.
• Localizing the SDGs in three pilot governorates (Anbar, Karbala and Basra): SDG Localization is a crucial process in order to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs whilst ensuring that we “leave no one behind”. By bringing the SDGs - across their economic, social, governance, environmental dimensions - closer to the people on the ground and ensuring their voices are heard in the decision-making process, we ensure ownership and sustainable change. This was done in the latter part of 2019 with the effective engagement and support of local academic experts. Respective governments prepared Local Sustainable Development Reports which reflect the actual needs of the governorates toward sustainable transition. 
• Developing thematic reports on SDG 5 (Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls) and SDG 16 (Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development: As both SDG 5 and SDG 16 are core cross-cutting goals of the 2030, these reports were prepared  to help to catalyze the implementation of the SDGs in Iraq, without leaving anyone behind.
• Ensuring commitment to the SDGs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: An MOU to prepare the 2030 Vision on SDGs for the KRI was signed on February 2020 between UNDP and the KRI Ministry of Planning, committing the parties t develop a Kurdistan Regional Vision 2030 during 2020.
• Innovating for the SDGs: A group of local NGOs have been supported to implement innovative monitoring of civil society and the SDGs, deriving informal data related to four SDG 16 indicators using Facebook. This was a global first and was presented in the Global Alliance Report on SDG 16+ for 2019 as well as in the 2019 Iraq VNRs.