A/HRC/41/41/Add.2 the poorest and most vulnerable and those furthest behind”.2 Sustainable Development Goal 16 aims, inter alia, to “build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. The role of civil society can be strengthened in the ways set out below. 1. Monitoring 55. At the national and subnational levels, civil society should have a stake and a role in tracking progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by developing appropriate indicators for particular country contexts and ensuring the means to assess and follow up on the implementation of improvements needed. 56. The availability of data and the development of progress assessment methodologies are crucial to the success of review and follow-up mechanisms. The capacity of civil society to collect, disaggregate and analyse relevant data should be strengthened. 57. Collaborative, creative, innovative, efficient and cost-effective approaches to monitoring and data collection should be developed, taking advantage of existing civil society capacity, reach and expertise in that area. 58. Technical trainings and sessions on how to monitor implementation of the Goals, collect and produce data, and conduct awareness-raising should be developed at the national level. 59. Recommendations from the universal periodic review process of the Human Rights Council, the human rights treaty bodies, and special procedures should be integrated into the follow-up and review process through the use of tools such as the Universal Human Rights Index, which is designed to facilitate access to human rights recommendations. 2. Review and accountability 60. Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure the active and meaningful participation of civil society in the voluntary national review. To that end, States should implement multisectoral and ongoing mechanisms and platforms to ensure that civil society is able to contribute to the voluntary national review, including through consultations, online platforms, written submissions and reporting. Models of civil society ownership of a section of the voluntary national review should be promoted. 61. National review reports are an opportunity to evaluate progress and extract lessons that will support further implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. They should be a solutions-based tool rather than just an opportunity to showcase good practices.3 In addition, they should be drafted in an accessible manner and disseminated through appropriate means in order to give relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, the opportunity to make observations on the reports before their presentation to the high-level political forum on sustainable development. The comments and contributions of civil society to the voluntary national review should be reflected in the final report. 62. Civil society should also be part of the Sustainable Development Goal review process at the global level. States and the coordination mechanism of the high-level political forum should promote the inclusion and participation of a wide range of civil society actors and major groups at the forum. In particular, civil society shadow or alternative reporting on national efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda should be supported, incentivized and formally accepted during the forum, as they are effective tools to identify and address shortcomings where the responsibilities of States are not met. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs should consider providing guidance to civil society organizations through toolkits and by promoting best practices and encouraging funders to support shadow reporting efforts. Access to reporting by civil society 2 3 Voluntary common reporting guidelines for voluntary national reviews at the high-level political forum for sustainable development. Available at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17346Updated_Voluntary_Guidelines.pdf. See https://tapnetwork2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/TAP-HLPF-Position-Paper_FINAL.pdf. 9