The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) is the yearly conference of the United Nations where governments, UN Agencies and civil society come together to discuss the achievements that have been made towards Agenda 2030. The HLPF 2021 was held virtually and the theme was “Sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that promotes the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development: building an inclusive and effective path for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development".

The HLPF 2021 was held from Tuesday, 6 July, to Thursday, 15 July 2021, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial meeting of the forum from Tuesday, 13 July, to Thursday, 15 July 2021 as part of the high-level segment of the Council.

The 2021 HLPF was hosted virtually. All official sessions of the 2021 HLPF were available to watch via UN Web TV. Special events, side events and other (all events IAU is actively involved in fall into this category) were open to the public for registration or streamed live via youtube. Links can be found on the UN DESA Website.

List of HLPF 2021 virtual events in which IAU will took part (sorted by date) :

The 2021 HLPF was hosted virtually. All official sessions of the 2021 HLPF are available to watch via UN Web TV. Special events, side events and other (all events IAU is actively involved in fall into this category) were streamed live via YouTube. Links can be found on the UN DESA Website.

IAU and/or Cluster Members were involved in the following side events:

• 7th July 3-5 pm CEST (9 a.m. EST):
  HESI (Higher Education Sustainability Initiative) Virtual event (Find the recording of the event here) titled: “The role of further education to drive collective action for the SDGs: building a sustainable and resilient recovery”. IAU is part of HESI and follows HESI roundtable discussions throughout the year.

  
  

• 7th July: 5.15-5.45 CEST (11:15 EST):
  Awards Ceremony International Green Gown Awards (IGGA) (Information and Winners here): IAU is partner of the IGGA, sat on the judging panel, and the IAU Secretary General presented the winner for ‘Next Generation Learning and Skills” at the virtual ceremony

  
  

• 12th July 2.30-4.15 CEST (8.30-10.15 a.m. EST):
  UNITAR Workshop with ACU/AUF, and the SDG Academy titled “Filling the gaps in further education for the 2030 Agenda and inspiring action towards the SDGs”
  (see programme here; and our session here)
  (All workshop recordings here and IAU Session 9 recording here)
  IAU co-organized this event, IAU partners and representatives from IAU Members were on the panel. The discussion was moderated by Florencia Librizzi from SDSN, and IAU Secretary General Dr. Hilligje van’t Land.

  
  

• 13th July 2:30–4:00pm CEST Paris:
  IAU Webinar with the SDG 12 Cluster on “TRANSFORMATIVE INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION FOR SDG 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION AT UNIVERSITIES”.
  IAU Webinar Series page here ; Find the recording of the event here

  
  

IAU at the HLPF

IAU has Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which enables participation in this High-Level event. While 2019 was the first year that IAU participated in the HLPF in New York (IAU secretariat with a delegation of 18 Members), in the years before IAU was represented by its Members (and in particular through the University of Bergen, Norway). Read about it in the 2019 HLPF Report. In 2020 and 2021, participation in the HLPF was virtual. Find out more about IAU’s participation in 2022 here.

Follow us for updates on the UN HLPF also here:

• HESD Portal
• Twitter @IAU_AIU @IAU_HESD,
• UN livestream