2025 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development encourages Member States to conduct Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) as part of follow-up mechanisms and progress updates for sustainable development. VNRs are the only formal reporting mechanism on the SDG targets and therefore provide an insightful opportunity to reflect on how countries are progressing on the SDG targets for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH) and featuring WCAH in their policy and financing priorities. Planning and development ministries or commissions in each country are responsible for the coordination of the VNRs. 

In 2024, PMNCH conducted a rapid analysis of WCAH in 7 PMNCH priority countries presenting their VNRs during the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) held in New York City in July 2024. Presented to Member States during the Knowledge Exchange for the 2025 VNR Countries organized by the United Nations Department of Economic Affairs, the analysis showed that there is lack of strong and comprehensive reference to WCAH in most of the VNRs main messages documents and issued the below recommendations for Member States undertaking their VNRs in 2025: 

• Take a life-course approach to WCAH in VNR reporting 

• Ensure robust reporting on the SDG indicators for WCAH 

• Identify good practices and existing challenges to accelerate progress on WCAH-related SDGs 

• Include information on financing in VNR reports 

• Meaningfully engage women, children and adolescents in the VNR development process 

PMNCH looks forward to working with countries and in-country partners to implement these recommendations and ensure accountability and progress on the SDG targets for WCAH. More detailed information can be found in the Handbook for the preparation of 2025 Voluntary National Reviews 

The timeline for 2025 VNR submissions is below: 

• Main Messages due by 24 April 

• Final VNR report due 17 June 

• The presentation of the VNRs will take place at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York City in July 2025  

The following resources may also be helpful in 2025 VNR reporting: 

• Analysis of 2024 VNRs on reporting on women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health in a sub-set of countries 

• Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health Data Portal 

• Resolution WHA77.5 “Accelerate progress towards reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal targets 3.1 and 3.2”.  

• Collaborative Advocacy Action Plan Initiative (CAAPs)