Ministry of Planning and Economic Development participates in the VNR lab session on the sidelines of UN HLPF

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development participated recently in the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development event: The role of business and the financial sector in financing a sustainable and resilient recovery from COVID-19.
The session was held on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations in New York virtually via video conference. The Ministry's participation was represented by the Modeling and Sustainable Development Units.
During the event, representatives of the ministry reviewed the Egyptian experience concerning the steps taken by the state to submit a voluntary national report (VNR) based on data and evidence, in light of the conditions of the emerging coronavirus.
The most prominent steps taken during the experiment were noted, which included reliance on data received from various government agencies, in addition to the national statistical report to follow up on indicators of sustainable development goals in Egypt, issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
During the event, the role of Egypt’s ministry of planning and economic development during the pandemic has been highlighted.
The ministry is cooperating with many international agencies to issue research on the impacts of government policies and coronavirus; on achieving sustainable development goals.
The aforementioned cooperation is a sign of the planning ministry's reliance on the participatory approach with various development partners to ensure the integrated voluntary review process from all dimensions.

This was reflected by holding several consultative sessions with civil society, the private sector, and international organizations, to look at their respective projects and efforts in achieving the UN goals for sustainable development. It was emphasized that relying on data and evidence was not limited to preparing for the voluntary national report, but an approach and methodology followed by the Egyptian government to formulate policies and interventions at the national and local levels.

The cooperation of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development with The Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver was noted to predict the impact of Covid-19 on achieving the sustainable development goals in the two Covid & No-Covid scenarios while comparing their performance with similar countries in MENA and middle- to low-income countries.

 The study showed significant improvement in the SDGs related to gender equality, reducing inequality, economic growth, and sustainable cities between 2019 and 2020.

Policies adopted by the Egyptian government to reduce the impact of the epidemic, through launching many initiatives to support irregular employment and ensure food security have been highlighted.
It was also emphasized that as a result of the rapid response by the Egyptian government to limit the impact of Corona; progress has been made in 13 sustainable development goals.
This response was not limited to the local aspect only but also extended to neighboring countries in Asia and Africa.