Resident Coordinator's Intervention at the UN ESCAP Virtual VNR Twinning Lab

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion.

In hearing about the respective twinning exercises, what strikes me as most powerful is the experiential nature of this hands-on approach that the VNR twinning initiative brings to bear for the participating countries. We learn best by experiencing and doing.

This is truly South – South Cooperation at its best, with far reaching benefits for the realization of the SDGs in the Asia-Pacific, beyond just the VNR process.

There are many takeaways from the models shared by Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan, such as, for example the twinning between Uzbekistan and Georgia resulting in the involvement of Parliament and further entrenchment of the SDGs.

I want to take a couple of minutes to speak from the perspective of Thailand and share how the country can potentially support the process.

Thailand’s commitment to the SDGs and the VNR process, which practically makes up the country’s DNA, is much institutionalised.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the country produces a VNR on an annual basis, since 2017. This has grounded the SDGs into the national government machinery.

Many of the VNRs are thematically oriented and the qualitative approach is complemented by a more quantitative, and data driven process to monitor progress.   

Thailand is serious about its SDG monitoring and at nearly 60% of indicators, is amongst the top-five country on data completeness in the region.

Apart from demonstrated rigour in Thailand’s approach to the VNR, the country is also a regional leader on South – South Cooperation led by Thailand’s International Cooperation Agency (TICA).

Given this, I would say that the Government is very well placed to offer technical expertise to the VNR twinning, under the SSTC rubric.

I am happy to take the discussions offline and work together with Caitlin and her team to take this forward.

Thank you.