The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) annual Partnership Forum focused on exchanging new ideas, expectations, and priorities for the work of the Council and the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The meeting highlighted forward-looking actions by governments and stakeholders through innovative partnerships that aim to mobilize commitments and actions to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and address new challenges.
The 2025 ECOSOC Partnership Forum, held on 5 February 2025 at the UN Headquarters in New York, US, addressed the theme, ‘Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind.’ It placed an emphasis on the Goals that will be reviewed at HLPF 2025 in July – SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals).
The Forum’s concept note highlights that a key takeaway from the 2023 SDG Summit and HLPF 2024, including the VNR presentations, “is that despite significant challenges, those leading SDG implementation are forging effective multi-stakeholder partnerships, driving sustainable development progress worldwide.” With 21 references to partnerships, the Pact for the Future “further emphasizes the multi-faceted role of partnerships in addressing global challenges and implementing the SDGs.”
In his opening remarks, ECOSOC President Bob Rae underscored that partnerships are at the heart of a common vision for multilateral action defined in the Pact for the Future and the Political Declaration of the 2023 SDG Summit. Partnerships, he said, “are multipliers allowing each of us to go further and amplify individual efforts and make them collective ones.”
Rae invited delegates to consider “good progress” that has been made, particularly on SDG 3, through partnerships such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), which has mobilized over USD 65 billion and saved more than 50 million lives across 100 countries since 2002. He also drew attention to the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, which engages a network of over 700 organizations to work in 35+ countries and involve stakeholders in 80+ countries to strengthen national data systems, mobilize investments, and support evidence-based health policies and resource allocation.
These examples show that “partnerships are not just tools but essential pillars for achieving the SDGs … [b]y fostering collaboration across sectors and leveraging shared strengths [to] amplify impact, drive progress and ensure that no one is left behind,” Rae stated.
The Partnership Forum was organized in consultation with stakeholders, including through meetings of the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group established by the ECOSOC President, a global online stakeholder consultation, and stakeholder engagement in the organization of the SDG action segments during the Forum.
The ECOSOC President, in consultation with the ECOSOC Bureau, will prepare an analytical joint summary to capture the key policy messages of the Partnership Forum and those of the Coordination Segment that convened back-to-back with the former. The summary will serve as an input to HLPF 2025, the Second World Summit for Social Development, the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, and the overall work of the ECOSOC and other intergovernmental processes throughout 2025.