In 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a universal framework designed to support countries to eradicate poverty in all its forms, reduce all inequalities, increase inclusive growth, raise quality of education and address climate change, among other international priorities. The 2030 Agenda is a paradigm shift from the past. It requires all of us to find new ways of working together and building partnerships to address these global challenges. The adoption of the joint resolutions on Sustaining Peace reinforces this paradigm shift. Conflict is no longer the starting point; now, peace is.

The 2030 Agenda reaffirmed, “There can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without development.” What does this mean in practice? The International Peace Institute (IPI) embarked on a research project focusing on supporting countries to implement the SDGs from a development and peace perspective. Through fieldwork, analysis, interviews, as well as events that bring together high-level officials and civil society representatives, IPI is working closely with several countries from all regions to explore ways to transform the visions of the 2030 Agenda and Sustaining Peace into a reality.

In 2019, heads of state and government met to celebrate the first SDG Summit at the UN General Assembly, providing member states the opportunity to review progress. After the summit, IPI launched the second phase of its SDGs4Peace project, “Localizing the 2030 Agenda: People Connecting Peace and Development.” The main purpose of this project is to develop practical tools and a shared national, regional, and global understanding of how the reforms to the UN development system can accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the local level. The program is focused on the themes of people, peace, planet, partnership, and prosperity—the five central axes of the 2030 Agenda—and will use human security as an overarching framework. It will also seek to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda’s promise to leave no one behind.

This project initially focused on West Africa. In October 2019, IPI organized a forum on “Localizing the 2030 Agenda: Building on What Works” in the Gambia, bringing together participants from across West Africa. In 2020, IPI will continue working on this initiative and publish a policy report outlining the outcomes of the forum in West Africa and analyzing the operationalization of the UN development system reform. The report will be launched virtually ahead of the High-Level Political Forum in July, and a policy forum will be organized at the end of 2020 sharing key outcomes of the forum and the report’s recommendations.