Divine Ntiokam, Founder and Executive Director, Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global was invited as panelist at UN HLPF 2025 side-event being organized by the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations and Stakeholder Forum, and co-sponsored by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the International Science Council, the side event will be moderated by Louis Meuleman, the Chair of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future.
Theme of Discussion: ‘Science-policy Interface for Integrated Decision-making for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Beyond’
The Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, in partnership with Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and co-sponsored by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the International Science Council is conducting this Side event as part of the 2025 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) being held at UN Headquarters, New York on Friday, 18 July 2025, UN HQ, New York, USA.
This session looked at ways to use the science-policy interface for effectively integrate decision-making at different stages of the policy-making process and to inform and engage different stakeholders from governments, intergovernmental organizations, and academia to civil society organizations in shaping effective evidence-based policies they can support to accelerate implementation of the SDGs in the five years until 2030. Science is forward-looking, exploring emerging issues and new solutions, and in this regard, the science-policy interface should be an important place for consideration of the way forward on a global sustainable development agenda and how it can be best used to inform thinking Beyond 2030.
GCSAYN ED Divine Ntiokam met the Coordinator of Canada-North American Hub, Dr Patrick Cortbaoui, who is Managing Director of McGill University’s Margaret A. Gilliam Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at the HLPF 2025 in UN HQ New York.
Informed and integrated decision-making is essential for addressing the interconnected challenges arising from the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The science-policy interface (SPI) serves as a bridge between research and policymaking, enabling identification of evidence-based solutions. Strengthening this interface is critical for fostering coherence, effectiveness, and innovation in SDG implementation.
However, the relationship between science and policy is neither linear nor one-dimensional. The interface between science and policy is a complex space, in theory and practice, that sees the interaction of various actors and perspectives coming together to enable policy-relevant evidence to support decision-making. Its complexities may be better understood as nexus relationships with multiple entry points. Applying science is therefore important to make decisions relevant and credible.
It has different roles to play at the different stages of the policy process, from identification of issues and analyzing problems, agenda setting and identification of goals and objectives, to selecting methodology and tools, and finally to monitor and evaluate outcomes and lead to subsequent changes in policies and evaluation of their impacts. More details can be seen here>>>