Country-level evaluations increasingly need to align to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But how is the new Covid-19 landscape influencing the realisation of the SDGs? Here are a few UN resources that sheds light on the question:

• The United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) has put together a briefing titled Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 – it includes a compelling visual demonstrating how Covid-19 is affecting the SDGs (see pg. 12)
• UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his determination to prevent the crisis from derailing the achievement of the SDGs. The UN has listed 19 examples to show how it’s fighting the Covid-19 threat
• To help safeguard countries’ progress towards the SDGs, the UN has developed a Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund – an inter-agency fund mechanism for low- and middle-income programme countries
• The Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) emphasised that Covid-19 reinforces the need for stronger global and regional partnerships if the SDGs are to be achieved. The ARFSD has adopted an action plan calling for timely data for evidence-based planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting on the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063