Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development 2017: Eradicating Poverty and Promoting Prosperity

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, all nations committed to a set of universal, integrated and transformational goals and targets, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Translating the new vision of the SDGs into action is a major challenge. This year, Ministers will gather at the High-Level Political Forum of the United Nations to take stock of progress, with a particular focus on eradicating poverty and enhancing prosperity in a changing world. Against this backdrop, Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development 2017 seeks to inform policy making by showing how a policy coherence lens can support implementation efforts, drawing on OECD evidence and analysis. It identifies challenges and good institutional practices for enhancing policy coherence in SDG implementation, drawing on the experience of the early implementers of the SDGs. The report introduces eight building blocks for policy coherence for sustainable development as well as a conceptual “coherence monitor” to track progress on policy coherence. It also includes an analysis of the nine OECD countries’ voluntary national reviews which were presented at the 2016 High-Level Political Forum of the United Nations (Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Korea, Switzerland and Turkey).

The OECD is an international organization that consists of 30 Member countries from the developed world that accept the principles of representative democracy and free market economy. It originated in 1948 as the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) to help administer the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Later its membership was extended to non-European states, and in 1961 it was reformed into the OECD. The organization provides a forum where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and co-ordinate domestic and international policies. With active relationships with some 70 other countries and economies, NGOs and civil society, the organization has a global reach. Renowned for its publications and statistics, its work covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics, to trade, education, environment, development and science and innovation.