The conference was organized by the Government of Serbia, UNDP and GIZ on September 13-14 in Belgrade. It brought together governments, international organizations, financial institutions, private sector, and development partners from South East Europe (SEE) to discuss prospects and challenges in accomplishing the SDGs in the Western Balkans. Conference program explored variety of themes – synergies between EU Accession and 2030 Agenda; significance of the voluntary reviews and data for reporting on Agenda 2030; key principle of leaving no-one behind; and securing financing for SDGs.

The CEF experts Irena Lukač and Tara Vasiljević contributed to the session addressing financing for sustainable development by presenting the practices and prospects for integrating SDGs to national budgets and strategies. We addressed essentials of budgeting, policy making and role of stakeholders including government, parliament, supreme audit institutions private sector and civic society. We discussed the reasons and ways to integrate SDGs into national policy-planning and budgetary decision-making processes and how non-technical factors such as coordination, leadership, change management, and peer learning play important role in successful implementation of national development objectives and SDGs. Finally, we addressed the role of civil society organizations and performance audits in monitoring of SDGs achievement and raising accountability.

See also what Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on SDGs at the conference and the closing statement of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic.