Stakeholder participation in the first VNR

Objective

Promote the whole-of-society principle in preparing the VNR through multi-stakeholder engagement.

Overview

In preparing the 2018 VNR, the Government of Lebanon ensured that the process was consultative and inclusive of stakeholders concerned with sustainable development. Therefore, the National Committee for the SDGs included representatives of civil society and the private sector.

Several steps were adopted for each stakeholder group:

1.    Government sector:

• Conduct extensive consultations with ministries, parliament and public administrations that are directly involved, such as the Central Administration of Statistics.
• Gather information by sending a questionnaire to all relevant public sector departments, addressing national policies and strategies related to the SDGs. The questionnaire included questions about development initiatives undertaken by each stakeholder, progress in achieving their goals, remaining measures to be taken, and their readiness to achieve the SDGs.

2.   Non-governmental sector:

• Conduct consultations through workshops with representatives of civil society and the private sector, as well as interviews with academics.
• Provide an opportunity for the participation of civil society and the private sector through written interventions included in the VNR report.
   

Examples of the VNR’s practical impact include:

• Launch of the “Lebanon model for stakeholder engagement” during the 2018 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
• Enhanced trust between governmental and non-governmental actors (from the private sector and civil society) in the participatory decision-making and policymaking process.
• Lebanon, specifically the Secretariat of the National Committee for the SDGs, was requested to train Ghana and Pakistan on preparing for their respective VNRs under the training programme of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
• Preparing the VNR report of Lebanon to be a comprehensive national database which could be utilized in evidence-based decision-making and policymaking.
• Using the validation process as a pillar to identify shortcomings in the coordination between public administrations and ministries.

Challenges

• Lack of sufficient knowledge of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, the predominance of the idea of prior objection, and the lack of trust of some members of civil society in the State’s initiatives.
• Difficulty in involving more civil society organizations in the consultative workshops due to time constraints and weak financial means, despite the involvement of 300 organizations from all Lebanese Governorates.
• Difficulty in coordinating efforts, initiatives and ideas between different civil society actors, and poor policy coordination between some public administrations and ministries.

Implementation Phase

Guiding Principles