{"id":3906,"date":"2025-07-23T13:18:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/?p=3906"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:04:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:04:55","slug":"ghana-presents-2025-voluntary-national-review-to-the-un-reaffirms-commitment-to-the-sustainable-development-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/ghana-presents-2025-voluntary-national-review-to-the-un-reaffirms-commitment-to-the-sustainable-development-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana Presents 2025 Voluntary National Review to the UN: Reaffirms Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Senior Advisor to the President on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, presented Ghana’s third Voluntary National Review (VNR) report at the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report, prepared by the National Development Planning Commission in collaboration with the SDG Implementation Coordination Committee (ICC) and Technical Committee, was launched by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama. It underscores Ghana’s unwavering commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the country’s determination to address implementation challenges while ensuring that no one is left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Progress Across Five Priority Goals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Thompson’s presentation focused on the five thematic goals of the 2025 HLPF: health (Goal 3), gender equality (Goal 5), economic growth and decent work (Goal 8), sustainable use of the oceans (Goal 14), and global partnerships (Goal 17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health and Well-being (Goal 3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghana has achieved significant improvements in maternal and child health. Skilled birth attendance increased from 73% in 2014 to 87.6% nationally, while under-five mortality rates decreased from 60 to 40 per 1,000 live births between 2014 and 2022. Neonatal mortality also declined from 29 to 17 deaths per 1,000 live births during the same period, though Dr. Thompson acknowledged this remains above the SDG target of 12 deaths per 1,000 live births.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gender Equality (Goal 5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Thompson highlighted landmark progress on gender equality, including the passage of the Affirmative Action Law in 2024 and the historic appointment of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as Ghana’s first female Vice President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainable Ocean Governance (Goal 14)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghana has demonstrated commitment to sustainable ocean governance through its ratification of the WTO Fisheries Agreement in 2025. Dr. Thompson detailed ongoing initiatives to combat illegal fishing, conserve marine ecosystems, and reduce plastic waste as part of the country’s broader environmental strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic Growth and Partnerships (Goals 8 & 17)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through strengthened partnerships, digital reforms, and improved tax administration, Ghana has enhanced domestic revenue mobilization. The proportion of government expenditure financed by domestic taxes increased from 50% in 2016 to 71% in 2023. Fixed broadband subscriptions have nearly quadrupled since 2019, reflecting Ghana’s growing global connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking Ahead: Investment and Implementation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghana plans to invest US$10 billion over the next five years in infrastructure, green transition initiatives, and nature-based solutions to accelerate progress toward the SDGs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges and the Path Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While celebrating these milestones, Dr. Thompson candidly acknowledged persistent challenges, including unacceptably high maternal mortality rates, gender income disparities, and youth unemployment. He emphasized that much work remains to fully realize the SDGs, stressing that strengthening data systems and enhancing domestic revenue mobilization will be critical to ensuring that no one is left behind.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Senior Advisor to the President on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, presented Ghana’s third Voluntary National Review (VNR) report at the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/526877513_1041350848169308_688128059398304331_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3906"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3943,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions\/3943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgsghana.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}