National Level 

At the national level, the sustainable development strategy stipulates that every legislature two events will be organised on the implementation of the 2030ASD The first of these events took place in November 2017. All federal authorities have their own dedicated process for evaluation and review.

 The Interministerial Conference on Sustainable Development has been mandated to follow-up the implementation of the Agenda in Belgium by coordinating the preparation of reports on progress made and challenges faced twice per legislature.

The Federal reports on SD, from the Federal Planning Bureau will also contribute to the follow up, review of Agenda 2030, through their database of SD indicators, and work on policy evaluation tools.

Finally, the advisory body (Federal Council for sustainable development) composed of representatives from civil society organizations will also review the progress towards SDGs.

At the national level, apart from the Voluntary National Review that was presented at the HLPF 2017, the Inter-Ministerial Conference for Sustainable Development (IMCSD) organized an event in the framework of the National Sustainable Development Strategy that discussed progress of the 2030 Agenda in Belgium.

In June 2020, The Belgian Court of Audit has performed a review concerning the preparedness of all authorities in Belgium (national, federal and regional level) for the implementation, follow-up and reporting on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the UN.

Federal Level

At the federal level the 2010 revision of the Act of May 1997 on Sustainable Development puts forward two distinct provisions for internal review:

The report by the members of the Interdepartmental Commission on Sustainable Development (ICSD), which contains Information on the implementation of the measures through which the administrative unit they represent aims to contribute to the objectives of the Federal Plan (FPSD). This report is to be completed at least 18 months prior to the agreed completion date of the FPSD. 

• The Federal Report on Sustainable Development, prepared by the Task Force on Sustainable Development (TFSD) of the Federal Planning Bureau (FPB). This is divided into two parts: a status and evaluation report and a foresight report looking at future developments. The status and evaluation report needs to be published at least 15 months prior to the completion date of the FP. 

The timing of submission of both reports (18 and 15 months prior to the completion date of the FP) is specifically decided to support and allow the integration of lessons learned into the design of the subsequent FPSD.

At the Flemish level evaluation is obliged through the Flemish decree for SD: the new Strategy for SD must incorporate an evaluation of the previous strategy.  The insights of the evaluation were taken as starting point for the third Strategy for SD, Vision 2050. There were several important findings and recommendations:

• a long-term strategy is important to tackle the challenges for SD
• the principles of transition management are a good framework
• a uniform approach for all transition processes is not appropriate, however focusing on a number of principles for SD is essential
• focus on a few priorities, not an extensive list of actions
• a unifying and guiding position for de third Strategy for SD is needed

Brussels-Capital Region

The draft of the Regional Sustainable Development Plan proposes a framework to assess the impact of its implementation on social, economic and environmental situation of the region.

Thematic evaluations, framed by considerations such as the nature of the measures, the type of beneficiaries and the objectives) on the priorities of the Regional Sustainable Development Plan will conducted. These evaluations will consist in measuring, at specific times , the effects of concrete actions and in assessing these effects through assessment criteria such as the effectiveness, efficiency and coherence.

According to the draft currently available, a comprehensive report published every 5 years will prepare the next Regional Sustainable Development Plan or partial changes in the one in force.

Wallonia

The evaluation of the Walloon sustainable development strategy is foreseen by decree: each new strategy must include an evaluation of the previous strategy. In order to follow-up the 100 actions of the SD strategy action plan, a monitoring report of the strategy has been adopted by the Walloon Government in March 2020.