Partnerships, Interconnectivity, and Intersectionality for SDG Compliance

July 23, 2025 | 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST
Baháʼí International Community
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120, New York, NY

This is NGO Major Group’s Special Side-Event on the Margins of the 2025 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). *Online participation will also be available through Zoom here.

Background and Objectives

With only five years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), progress is alarmingly off-track. Persistent challenges—such as the erosion of multilateralism, fragmented governance, chronic underfunding, and misaligned national priorities—jeopardize the fulfillment of the global agenda. Without immediate and bold interventions, millions of people who depend on these goals for poverty reduction, climate resilience, and equitable development risk being failed by the world. A We need to shift our paradigm by scaling up cross-sector partnerships, mobilizing innovative financing, and embedding intersectional approaches to accelerate inclusive and sustainable outcomes. Only transformative, system-wide strategies can realign efforts to achieve the SDGs before there is no time left for incremental action.

The world is facing a convergence of interconnected crises—economic fragility, escalating geopolitical strife, and deepening social fractures—that collectively threaten global stability and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic not only exposed systemic vulnerabilities but also widened inequalities and drained public coffers, leaving governments with less fiscal space to invest in long-term resilience. Compounding these challenges, soaring inflation, unsustainable debt burdens, and worsening food insecurity have pushed millions into poverty, undermining progress toward the SDGs. Geopolitical upheavals, from the war in Ukraine to the catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip, have fractured international solidarity, disrupted critical supply chains, and redirected humanitarian aid away from development priorities—stalling national efforts to align with the SDGs.

Meanwhile, the climate emergency continues to outstrip global response measures, with intensifying droughts, floods, and heatwaves displacing vulnerable populations and eroding decades of infrastructure gains, particularly across the Global South. Despite lofty pledges under the Paris Agreement, fossil fuel production and subsidies persist at record levels, while financing for renewable energy and climate adaptation remains woefully inadequate. At the same time, rising nationalism and ideological polarization in key economies have eroded multilateral cooperation and stalled policy consensus on equitable solutions. This confluence of crises necessitates a profound reassessment of global governance, financing mechanisms, and collaborative efforts to ensure the SDGs remain attainable.

With the 2030 deadline fast approaching, stakeholders across sectors must urgently unite behind bold, coordinated action to accelerate progress on the SDGs. This side event will serve as a critical platform for unlocking transformative solutions by addressing the systemic bottlenecks that perpetuate inequitable implementation. Through an intersectional lens, we will:

1. Diagnose Systemic Roadblocks—Analyze the interconnected political, economic, and social barriers stalling SDG advancement, from short-term policymaking to structural inequalities.
2. Catalyze Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration—Bridge silos between governments, private sector leaders, NGOs, and grassroots actors to scale high-impact, context-driven solutions.
3. Center Marginalized Voices—Tackle intersectional disparities in SDG progress by prioritizing inclusive frameworks that leave no community behind.
4. Reinvigorate Global Solidarity—Assess the fraying state of multilateral cooperation, with a focus on closing critical gaps in financing, policy coherence, and equitable representation.
5. Drive Alignment for Impact—Identify actionable strategies to synchronize priorities, leverage blended finance, and optimize resource allocation for accelerated results.