The high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) is the core United Nations platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In 2021, it was held in New York and virtually from July 6 – 15, 2021.
The theme of this year’s HLPF was, “Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective Path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.”
This segment of the HLPF focused on the following SDGs of Agenda 2030:
- 1. No poverty
- 2. No hunger
- 3. Health and well-being
- 8. Decent working conditions and economic growth
- 10. Reduced inequality
- 12. Sustainable consumption and production
- 16. Peaceful and inclusive societies
- 17. Implementation and global partnership
Director of Strategy and Advocacy of Movendi International, Maik Duennbier joined the HLPF 2021 as part of the Swedish Government delegation representing member organization IOGT-NTO Movement.
Maik contributed to the discussions our members’ expertise and experience about how to tackle alcohol as obstacle to development. As Movendi International has been advocating, alcohol is an obstacle to 14 of the 17 SDGs.
Our booklet “ALCOHOL OBSTACLE TO DEVELOPMENT: How Alcohol Affects the Sustainable Development Goals” exposes with evidence how alcohol is a major obstacle to sustainable human development. This resource shows how alcohol affects each of the 14 SDGs and 54 targets and illustrates the potential of alcohol policy to function as catalyst for reaching the SDGs.
Our key task during the HLPF 2021 was to mainstream this perspective and help to find solutions through alcohol policies.
Following are some of the topics we brought to the table during this HLPF:
- Using alcohol taxation to eradicate poverty and violence against women.
- Using alcohol advertising bans to promote health and sustainable consumption.
- How to reduce alcohol availability to increase safety in the public space and in the homes.
- The role of alcohol taxation to recover and build forward stronger after COVID-19.
42 countries carried out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda in this year’s HLPF.
The HLPF adopted the Ministerial Declaration as the outcome of its session. The President of ECOSOC will also prepare a summary to capture the key messages of the discussions.
