Introduction
With only five years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda and significant milestones of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the pace of implementation in African Member States remains insufficient. Although notable progress has been made, most countries face structural, financial, and institutional bottlenecks that require rapid, targeted, and scalable acceleration efforts.
The theme of ARFSD-12—"Turning the Tide: Transformative and Coordinated Actions for the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063” which is aligned with that of the 2026 HLPF - “Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for a sustainable future for all”—calls for modalities that move beyond discussion and political statements to practical, action-oriented mechanisms that can be implemented immediately after the Forum.
The ARFSD is one of the three mandated mechanisms for follow-up, review and acceleration of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. ARFSD-12 (28–30 April 2026) will review progress on:
- SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Why Impact Labs?
The SDG-STYIP Impact Labs draw inspiration from the role of scientific laboratories, which exist to test ideas, generate evidence, refine solutions through iteration, and scale what works. In the development context, interventions are often designed and implemented at scale without sufficient testing, adaptation, or learning, increasing the risk of inefficiency and limited impact. The Labs translate the laboratory model into the development space by providing a structured, collaborative environment where policy options, delivery mechanisms, partnerships, and financing approaches can be co-created, stress-tested, refined, and prepared for scale. By embedding evidence, learning, and accountability into the ARFSD process, the Labs support the transition from ambition to tested, implementable, and finance-ready solutions for accelerating the SDGs and Agenda 2063.
SDG – STYIP Impact Labs
The SDG-STYIP Impact Labs are designed as co-creation and problem-solving platforms that leverage the ARFSD ecosystem to produce actionable, implementable, and financed interventions for accelerating the SDGs and Agenda 2063. Functioning as development laboratories, they provide a structured space for defining problems precisely, testing assumptions, refining solutions, and preparing interventions for replication and scale.
The Labs have three core functions:
- Issue Framing – identifying emerging issues, critical barriers and high-potential entry points
- Intervention Generation – co-creating practical, evidence-based solutions
- Action Generation – converting solutions into funded commitments and projects
This year, the ARFSD will have SDG-STYIP labs. These labs will leverage the ARFSD process and serve three main functions: (1) Issue Framing; (2) Intervention Generation; and (3) Action Generation. The aim is to generate impact and results within specific SDGs. The labs will generally be a multi-stakeholder co-creation platform which will span across all three functionalities of the lab. It will bring together governments, UN agencies, private sector, youth, civil society, academia, and subregional bodies. This could start in March and be finalized during ARFSD.
Modalities and Governance
- Uniform templates: issue papers, submission forms, selection rubric, implementation templates
- Coordination: each SDG lab will have co-leads—ECA (substantive lead) + partner institution (technical lead)
- Inclusivity: special emphasis on youth, private sector, women innovators, and African research institutions
- Transparency: well delineated roles of partners etc, clear selection criteria based on scalability, evidence, alignment with SDG/Agenda 2063, and feasibility
- Documentation: all outputs feed into session reports/outcome documents (key messages and declaration) and knowledge fair at ARFSD and beyond e.g. the Africa Sustainable Development Report, Conference of Ministers
- Reporting and knowledge sharing on the SDGs-STYIP Labs: may consider setting up an online platform on these labs
Documents
Concept Note [English]