Sustainable Development Goals

VNR 2023

Iceland's second VNR report (e. Voluntary National Review) was delivered to the United Nations in June 2023. The Voluntary National Review was delivered to the United Nations in 2019 and is part of international follow-up on the progress of the SDGs. Countries are recommended to deliver Voluntary National Reviews at least three times during the term of the SDGs.

The VNR report is the result of extensive consultation and collaboration between various stakeholders. The report was written by the government’s steering group for Sustainable Iceland, but it also contains chapters written by the SDG Youth Council, Iceland's youth delegate to the United Nations in the field of sustainable development and the Icelandic Association of Local Authorities. The report also contains a status assessment from civil society on the progress of the SDGs in Iceland, which is a novelty since the first report was published in 2019.

• Iceland's VNR 2023

VNR 2019

Iceland's first Voluntary National Review is based to a large extent on the 2018 Status Report. The Review places special emphasis on children – the generation that will take over after the SDGs conclude. The chapters on each of the SDGs all contain a quote from children. The report also highlights Iceland's main challenges in implementing the SDGs in order to spot marginalised groups and lay out the next steps in the implementation process.

• Iceland's VNR 2019

Status report 2018

The government's working group for the SDGs wrote a report on Iceland's position in relation to the SDGs, both domestically and internationally. The report, which was published in June 2018, maps the government's main projects, plans and challenges with regard to specific goals. On the basis of that work, the working group furthermore proposed priority targets that will guide the government in implementing the goals in the coming years.

One of the main emphasis of the SDGs is co-operation between different stakeholders, including youth, in implementing the goals. In view of this, and also considering that Articles 12 and 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly state the right of children to express their opinions and to influence issues of concern to them, a decision was taken to involve Icelandic youth through the Youth Council for the SDGs. This reflects the platform of the governing coalition, which emphasises implementing the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including those on increasing the influence of children in society.

The main aim of the Youth Council is to draw attention to the SDGs and sustainable development, both among young people and within the community as a whole. The Youth Council is intended to be a living forum where the SDGs and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are the overarching theme and are discussed critically and with a focus on resolution. In this way, young people are given a forum to draw attention to the SDGs and sustainable development, thus creating opportunities for the voices of their peers to be heard on these issues.

The Youth Council for the SDGs consists of twelve representatives from across the country, aged 13-18 years. The Youth Council meets six times a year, including one meeting with the government. The role of the Council is to learn about and discuss the SDGs, as well as to prepare and share interactive content on the goals and sustainable development on social media. The Youth Council is also to keep the government focused, through the inter-ministerial working group, and advise it on implementation of the goals.

The work of the Youth Council can be followed on its Facebook page and further details are available by contacting [email protected].