The Road to the SDGs

PURPOSE X With just ten years to go before 2030, the start in 2020 of a Decade of Action to accelerate progress on the SDGs coincided with the COVID‑19 pandemic, raising deep questions about prospects for achieving this ambitious agenda. X Following a proposal made by IsDB's President, who had chaired the meetings of the Heads of MDBs during 2020, this Group — comprising the 11 largest MDBs and the International Monetary Fund — launched a report on their contributions to the SDGs. X As the world seeks to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, focus on the SDGs must be renewed. In line with the Linkage pillar of the P5P, the joint report outlines MDBs’ efforts in each of the 17 SDGs, reflecting their respective mandates and comparative advantages. X National and global leaders have recognised both the opportunity and the responsibility to ensure that recovery efforts support the SDGs. This was emphasised at various forums, including the G20, the high-level process on “Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond”, co-convened by Canada, Jamaica and the United Nations General Secretariat in May 2020, and the Finance in Common Summit held in November 2020. X In this context, much is expected from the MDBs, while more needs to be done so that their current role in financing the SDGs is fully recognised. It is therefore timely for the MDBs to communicate their contributions to the 2030 Agenda. X The report has increased the visibility of MDBs’ efforts to support countries in achieving the SDGs, and promoted an appreciation of their role, including in the context of supporting responses to, and recovery from, the COVID-19 crisis. METHOD X The proposal was developed following discussion at the Sherpa meeting. It was suggested that IsDB further develop the proposal jointly with the Asian Development Bank, the current chair of the MDB working group on Managing for Development Results, for which reporting on the SDGs is an ongoing workstream. X At the first Heads of MDBs meeting T o mark the beginning of the Decade of Action in 2020, IsDB President, as chair of the 2020 Meetings of Heads of MDBs, proposed the publication of a joint report on financing the SDGs MDBs’ first joint report on SDGs contributions The MDBs’ joint report presents a new vision of development for all countries, highlighting the importance of partnerships to mobilise financing for sustainability [ 218 ] SDGs