The Slovenian delegation, headed by Development Minister Alenka Smerkolj, organised the event in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, Columbia, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, OECD and the African Peer Review Mechanism, with participation of NGOs, the private sector and media.

The opening remarks were made by Masamichi Kono, deputy secretary-general of the OECD, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, while Minister Smerkolj delivered the keynote address.

One of the topics under discussion was the findings of voluntary national reviews in a bid to expose gaps in knowledge about how to attain deep transformations needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, set by the UN in 2015.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement call for major changes in the systems of healthcare, education and food, environment management, sustainable consumption and production, among other things.

The participants shared experiences in their efforts to achieve development goals, while the Organisation for European Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network spoke about their work with governments.

The participants agreed that examples of best practice needed to be better identified, documented and shared between all stakeholders of sustainable development.

At the moment little comparative documentation is available on implementation in various parts of the world. Each country is trying to attain the 2030 Agenda in its own way although a few basic guidelines are available.

The ministerial segment of the session was opened on Monday by Miroslav Lajčak, president of the UN General Assembly, and Marie Chatardova, president of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), who said that progress in attaining development goals appeared positive but insufficient.

At the ministerial, running until Thursday, Minister Smerkolj was due to report on Slovenia's activities in implementing sustainable development goals. The delegation's participation in the meeting is seen as important for Slovenia's bid for membership of the ECOSOC between 2023 and 2025.