SDSN Cyprus Takes Part in Consultations for a Cyprus SDG Action Plan

SDSN Cyprus was invited by the Directorate General for Growth (DG Growth) of the Cyprus Ministry of Finance, which is the competent authority in Cyprus for the mainstreaming of the SDGs, to take part in a series of consultations on developing an SDG Action Plan for the country. This is a process that has been supported from the onset by UNITAR (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research) and the European Commission, and has involved all key Ministries in Cyprus.

This process culminated in a consultation workshop on 15th and 16th June where the different elements of the Action Plan were pulled together for finalisation. This workshop involved all the relevant ministries, as well as UNITAR and the European Commission, with SDSN Cyprus representing the civil society component.

During this workshop, SDSN Cyprus presented the results of the latest SDSN Sustainable Development Report (SDR 2022), and in particular the results pertaining to Cyprus’ performance. In subsequent discussions, there was an opportunity to have inputs into the Cyprus SDG Action Plan itself.Although Cyprus’ performance in the 2022 SDR is at the bottom of the EU league table, and only two SDGs are in the green, SDSN Cyprus explained to the participants in the workshop that there is always a several-year time lag between SDG performance and the outcomes of that performance becoming visible, which means that the current coordination work being witnessed in Cyprus should pay dividends in terms of the 2024 or 2025 rankings.

The SDG Action Plan for Cyprus is currently under review and is due to be released in the autumn. The plan is fully comprehensive and covers: political commitment, leadership, horizontal policy coordination, vertical policy coordination, strengthening stakeholder participation, strengthening monitoring/evaluation/reporting for the SDGs, mainstreaming the SDGs in the national budget, strengthening knowledge and engagement of public servants, mainstream environmental and social dimensions into long-term strategies etc.

SDSN Cyprus members have in the past also had inputs into the national COVID resilience and recovery plan, amongst others, in each instance focussing on linking specific policy elements to specific SDGs, thus helping the authorities and decision-makers to mainstream the SDGs into the policy environment.