While the individuals who participated in the course may come from a strong background in sustainable development, in fact, 65 per cent were “involved” or “very involved” in sustainable development, their participation in the course was fundamental to improving the understanding of the concepts and meaning of both the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
According to an impact survey(1) conducted after the course, the average confidence to prepare a VNR Stakeholder Engagement Strategy before participating in the course was 30 per cent and 83 per cent afterwards, with respondents attributing 85 per cent of this increase to their participation in the course.
Sixty-five per cent of respondents have already applied three or more out of the six approaches they learned in the course for stakeholder engagement. Ninety-one per cent Conclusion of respondents “strongly agree” or “agree” that the course helped them to prepare a VNR that was more inclusive to vulnerable groups.
In a counterfactual scenario, these participants may have been able to continue to prepare the VNR without participating in the course. However, based on the experience shared by Ulises from Chile, the additional support from this course was indispensable for the individuals tasked to prepare a Voluntary National Review. Even if Comoros is still in the process to plan their VNR, Fatouma has made a ripple effect spreading the awareness of both the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs which will help engage more individuals to achieve the 2030 Agenda in her country. It is through learning from other countries, good practices and engaging stakeholders at different levels of the process that we can strive to implement and review the 2030 Agenda to achieve the 17 SDGs.
(1) The impact survey had 40 per cent response rate.