UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development

All UN member states, including the Nordic countries, have adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030). The Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the 169 specifying targets are designed to create ideal conditions for a socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable world. People with disabilities are mentioned in 11 targets of the Agenda 2030 (UN Human Rights, 2020). All SDGs, targets and the indicators used to measure the developments are available on the webpage of the UN statistics department.

For this project on indicators SDG 4 on Education, SDG 8 on Decent work, SDG 10 Reduced inequality, and SDG 11 Sustainable cities are the most relevant.

The UN member states report on the developments of the implementation on the SDGs on a voluntary basis through Voluntary National Reviews (VNR). The reviews are presented at the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) which is held each year. At the HLPF focus lies on different SDGs or thematic areas of the Agenda. All Nordic countries have reported at least once since 2016. The reports are published on the UNs knowledge platform.

• Denmark reported a VNR to the HLPF in 2017. Persons with disabilities are not mentioned explicitly in the report. • Finland presented a report in 2020 on the progress since 2016. It is stated in several parts of the report that challenges remain in relation to inclusion and equality for persons with disabilities. • Iceland reported in 2019. In the report it is stated that challenges remain regarding welfare and inclusion of persons with disabilities. • Norway reported in 2016 and will present a VNR in 2021. • Sweden contributed with a VNR at the HLPF 2017 and reported on the principle of Leaving no one behind in 2020. Persons with disabilities are mentioned in both reports.