Governance as an SDG Accelerator
Country Experiences and Tools
Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a formidable governance challenge for countries at all levels of development. It requires governments to co-ordinate, consult and work across policy areas – as well as with the businesses sector and civil society – in an unprecedented way. This report provides evidence from OECD countries and partner economies on how public governance practices can be strengthened to help implement the SDGs. It looks at whole-of-government co-ordination, policy coherence and integrity, stakeholder engagement and open government, and the strategic use of budgeting, procurement and regulatory tools. It discusses robust monitoring and evaluation systems for ensuring that public policies and resource allocations for SDG implementation result in meaningful outcomes. It also explores how governance frameworks to support equal access to justice and gender equality can help catalyse implementation across the entire 2030 Agenda.
Executive summary
Achieving progress on the SDGs will require governments to work across policy areas. This is no easy task. The obstacles to joined-up government are well known. For example, immediate economic and social pressures often crowd out longer term strategic policy initiatives. Public budgets and accountability systems are usually aligned with departmental structures and have difficulty tracking outcomes that occur in multiple policy areas and across multiple levels of government. An unprecedented range of public and private actors will need to be consulted and participate in both policy formulation and implementation of the SDGs.