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Despite recording efforts to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into Member States’ national plans and policies, the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) also shed to light challenges in fully implementing the Agenda 2030.
In the period 2016–2019, 158 voluntary national reviews were presented at the high-level political forum on sustainable development by 143 countries, over two-thirds of which included references to ageing.
A forward-looking vision of sustainable development is impaired by a general slow advancement in achieving the SDGs. While positive improvements have been reported in the VNRs in areas such as awareness-building about the SDGs, providing disaggregated data statistics, building resilience (with an emphasis on accommodating environmental changes), population groups with documented disadvantages largely remain excluded.
The principle of leaving no one behind is mentioned by several countries in their VNRs, but it often lacks a tailored focus on older persons in vulnerable situations. Like other age groups, many older persons contribute to advancing the SDGs to improve the lives of people in their families and community, however, their social and economic contribution are often overlooked.
Read our Briefing Paper on Ageing-related Policies and Priorities in VNRs (2016-2019).
