The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for a transformative approach toward addressing development challenges and driving change for an inclusive world where no one is left behind. The 2030 Agenda demands the effective engagement of an expanding group of actors, including parliamentarians, in driving sustainable development and monitoring and following up on progress of the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level. Through their functions of representation, legislation, oversight, and budgeting, parliamentarians have the potential and responsibility to ensure accountability, inclusivity and transparency as countries work to achieve sustainable development for all.
 
Building on the success and recommendations of the 2017 Regional seminar for parliamentarians in the Arab region on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,  the 2019 Arab Region Parliamentary Forum on the 2030 Agenda will build on ongoing efforts to enhance the awareness of parliamentarians on their role in the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. Deliberations will link parliamentary functions to the principles of sustainable development, the underlying sectoral and thematic interlinkages, and their implications for policy-making.
 
The Forum will provide a platform for dialogue between parliamentarians and other stakeholders involved in sustainable development allowing the exchange of experiences and knowledge. It will conclude with a set of key messages that will feed into the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development for 2019. As such, the Forum will align its thematic focus with the 2019 theme of the High-Level Political Forum: “Empowering People and Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality”
 
The Forum is organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
 
Please refer to the Information Note for further details.
 
Registration through this link is by invitation only.