The SDGs are an ambitious agenda. Early actions taken by government, civil society and the private sector are critical in setting the foundation for success or failure in the years to come. Achieving the goals will require the involvement  of a wide range of actors; it is therefore important that different voices weigh in on key priorities moving forward.

A set of regional dialogues taking place across Africa, Asia and Latin America seek to bring together researchers and policy-makers to identify and discuss SDG priority actions for effective implementation at national, regional and global scales. Each of the regional dialogues bring together development thinkers and decision-makers for two days in an interactive setting. The purpose of the dialogues is to:

Convene a select group of actors who can build a platform to champion SDG implementation and maintain momentum and a sense of urgency within their respective countries and across the region;

Generate ideas on concrete actions that will catalyse early action and help avoid the slow start on implementation that plagued the MDGs;

Pool knowledge and substantive evidence on integrated approaches to SDGs implementation - ideas/actions that take into account the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the goals - and what the principle of 'leave no one behind' means in practice for the region.

The first of these events was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 12-13 April 2016 in partnership with Southern Voice and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.