Highlights and images for 14 July 2026

“Every VNR tells two stories, a story of policies, frameworks, and indicators, and a story of the lives that have been transformed.”

The words that Konris Maynard, the Minister of Public Infrastructure of St. Kitts and Nevis, chose to present his country’s voluntary national review (VNR) invited delegates to consider the human stories behind the data-laden reports countries use to show their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). 

A majority of the VNRs this year have been presented by small island developing states (SIDS) and African countries, many affected by conflict, climate disasters, or spikes in energy prices. 

Tonga, for example, recalled that damage caused by the 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano and a subsequent tsunami affected progress in urban reconstruction, noting that his country also established a trust fund for early warning disaster risk reduction.

Somalia, a post-conflict state currently affected by a drought that is threatening to push millions of people into hunger, reported moderate progress in access to water and electricity, adding that addressing food insecurity is a priority. He also mentioned that Somalia recently received significant debt relief after substantial governance reform, which now opens fiscal space to invest in infrastructure for the first time in years. 

Cameroon reported that it is advancing the installation of new renewable energy capacity but can’t keep up with raising demand from population growth. So, despite the effort, the percentage of people with access to electricity is declining. 

Many of the VNRs show slow or uneven progress on key measures such as access to water and sanitation or electricity, raising concerns that countries either won’t achieve the SDGs by 2030 or that progress reinforces inequalities. But still those who do benefit see their lives transformed. 

Throughout the past week, speakers have been reminding delegates that slow progress is progress, nonetheless. In some cases, countries are also trying to establish the conditions for accelerating implementation through fiscal or policy reform, but these efforts are not easily visible in the SDG indicator framework. 

During the session on regional perspectives, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, urged countries to strengthen the economic foundation for development to accelerate implementation amid external shocks while resisting pessimistic narratives. His colleague, Zoran Dimitrovski, Co-Chair of the UN Economic Commission for Europe Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, said the SDGs remain achievable if political leaders focus on policy coherence and delivery.

While the SDG indicator framework is useful and necessary to compare the results of national actions with global ambition, the day’s discussions seemed to point to a significant gap in the framework. The indicators can’t capture how progress transforms individual lives nor can they measure optimism and resolve in the face of setbacks. 

Konris Maynard of Saint Kitts and Nevis had a recommendation delegates may be inclined to consider. “Sustainable development is measured by the hope it creates for the next generation.”