Global Partnerships for the SDGs

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AbstractAgenda 2030 sees the SDGs as being realized through a “global partnership for sustainable development”—this itself a “partnership of partnerships” among the widest possible range of stakeholders, within and across sectors and borders. In this chapter, we set out to reflect on three key sets of questions around global partnerships for the SDGs, especially in the context of COVID-19. To address these questions, we draw on evidence from three surveys we undertook with UN DESA in 2019 and 2021. The chapter considers, first, some of the key conceptual issues involved: matters of definition, of how the role of partnerships in the SDGs should be understood, and of the different scopes and scales for partnerships. Second, an initial presentation and discussion of the data from our surveys, with examples, illustrate the diversity of global partnerships and the contributions they are making to the SDGs. We also outline the role of the UN in these partnerships, both as a partner and an orchestrator or curator of SDG partnerships. A third section presents evidence from 2021 on how and where partnerships have developed in response to COVID-19 and how COVID-19 has affected sustainable development partnerships. Drawing on our preceding discussions, a concluding section poses critical questions about what this “ecosystem” of partnerships for the SDGs ought to look like and how the UN should approach the task of curating it.KeywordsGlobal partnershipsGoal 17sustainable development partnershipsSDGs2030 AgendaUnited NationsGlobal governance