Putting the wellbeing of people at the centre of COVID-19 recovery strategies: The critical role of parliaments

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically set back progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), affecting all aspects of development. By exposing the vulnerability and inequities of our societies, the global health emergency has served as a wake-up call that shows how crucial it is for countries to have policy and legislation address current and structural issues. Unemployment increased, supply chains have been disrupted, and poverty as well as gender, economic and social inequalities have been deteriorating, despite the important measures taken by governments to protect working people and to support enterprises during this unprecedent crisis.

Jointly organized by the IPU and ECE, the webinar will provide parliamentarians and parliamentary staff with up-to-date information about and tools for monitoring the status of SDGs implementation at the national and regional levels. Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff will have a unique space where they can exchange and discuss concrete actions to boost inclusive economic growth and decent work for a just and sustainable recovery. The discussions will also focus on the importance for parliaments to be engaged in the Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) process in order to monitor government actions, strengthen national ownership of and build more political support for the SDGs.

The webinar is part of a series of IPU regional webinars on SDGs implementation in a time of pandemic, and is being organized in anticipation of the 2022 Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, an intergovernmental meeting organized by UNECE from 6 to 7 April 2022 to review progress on the SDGs at the regional level.

The meeting will be held virtually and will be open to parliaments in the UNECE Member States. The working language will be English, French and Russian.