SDG FORUM Belgium | From everyone, for everyone and by everyone

From everyone, for everyone and by everyone

The above is the tagline of the SDG Forum which was held this year for the fifth time. The Federal Institute for Sustainable Development is an initiator of this forum and co-organized it with 18 partner organizations. As the first multi-stakeholder forum on the SDGs in Benelux, it aims to offer an opportunity for policy makers, companies, NGOs and academics to exchange ideas on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The SDGs aim to respond to key economic, social and environmental challenges around the world. The principle "Leave no one behind" is a common thread throughout the SDGs. Achieving these objectives is of vital importance to the planet, but also to ourselves and especially to future generations.

Zakia Khattabi: "Together with the Federal Institute for Sustainable Development and other partners, we are working hard to implement the SDG-governance at the federal level. Last year, for the first time in over 10 years, we adopted a Federal Sustainable Development Plan based on the SDGs, whose implementation is well underway. Furthermore, since last year, the SDGs have been included in the policy notes of all members of the government.”

The programme included a key note by Guillaume La Fortune (vice-president of SDSN Paris), an introduction to the Voluntary National Reviews (VNR), some 30 workshops and a debate on the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, the SDG-Barometer was presented. For the third time, this new edition of the SDG-Barometer provided insights into the national sustainability landscape the commitment of organizations to the Sustainable Development Goals.

"Awareness of the SDGs continues to grow at home as well as abroad. The SDGs are everyone’s responsibility and partnerships and a multi-stakeholder approach to action are central to the SDGs. I therefore welcome the large turnout in the Fifth Forum on the SDGs, which was held on Tuesday in Brussels, and its substantial contribution to the current VNR process (voluntary national progress review) . As you have demonstrated through your presence here today, it is in our common interest to implement the SDGs together. The 2030 Agenda forces us to move away from silo approaches to a systemic approach. Each individual, each business, each organization, each government at every level has something to contribute to this collective effort." Continued the minister.