ADA Monthly Newsletter
May 2017
Dear ADA members and Friends,
We are happy to share news about ADA activities on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other development issues for the months of May 2017
Please remain in touch to get the latest news and updates on HLPF 2017 and related issues.
Hope it is useful for your reflection… Please see below for details how to get involved and share your activities for greater impact!
In solidarity,
ADA Secretariat
Table of Contents
ADA and Members Activities
International Activities
The Encompassing Nature of SDG Goal 16 – May 9, 2017
2017 Asia Youth Leadership Forum for Democracy (AYLFD) May 14-19, 2017
East Asia Democracy Forum in Taipei on May 24th-25th -Taipei
I4C Inter-regional Meeting: Johannesburg (16-19 May 2017)
AGNA Meeting (19-20 May 2017)
Useful Documents
Reviews civil society and stakeholder engagement in voluntary national reviews and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
Citizens’ Report on 3rd Year of the NDA Government-2017: Promises & Reality- Please access the report here
HLPF 2017 - VNR countries publishing "Main Messages"
For Your Action
International Key Events related to SDGs 2017
ADA and Members Activities
International Activities
The Encompassing Nature of SDG Goal 16 – May 9, 2017
Report from Seminar in Tokyo
CSO Network Japan – in cooperation with Japan Civil Society Network on SDGs (SDG Japan), Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC) and Japan NPO Center (both ADA partners)– organized a seminar on SDG Goal 16 and Civil Society in Tokyo on May 9, 2017.
Among the SDG goals, the seminar focused on 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and the role of civil society. Attended by about 30 people from civil society organizations (CSOs), university professors, government bodies and others, it also marked the first time in Japan to introduce the Community of Democracies (CoD) and its effort to produce supplemental indicators for Goal 16. The detailed report can be read here
2017 Asia Youth Leadership Forum for Democracy (AYLFD) May 14-19, 2017
Participants from over 23 countries in Asia participated in the first Asia Youth Leadership Forum for  Democracy co-organized by the Asia Democracy Network and the Innovation for Change East Asia with the support of the May 18th Foundation and the Gwangju Human Rights and Peace Foundation. The participants got to visit various offices, working on the issues of democracy apart from visiting historic sites including DMZ, Democracy Monument, May 18 memorial, and May 18 foundation offices. The participants also got to share their countries' democratic condition, shared problems and ideas that how to move forward collectively during various sessions. We attended Gwangju Asian Forum and award ceremony. There were other side events, conference and activities to highlight problems, issues, ideas and collaboration opportunities.
East Asia Democracy Forum in Taipei on May 24th-25th -Taipei
Taiwan AID co-organized the East Asia Democracy Forum in Taipei on May 24th-25th, 2017. Taiwan AID managed one of the workshops focusing on CSOs and Enabling Environment (EE) in East Asia that covers several topics: Development and Trends of enabling environment, Challenges and Opportunities for CSO enabling environment in Asia, Strategy, and Action.
 Mr. Anselmo, ADA Co-convener spoke about SDG 16 and CSO Enabling Environment in the Panel Discussion titled ‘The Importance of SDG 16 (Peace, Human Rights, and Democracy) in Advancing the Enabling Environment at Regional and National Level’. Following that session, a Roundtable Discussion on ‘Promotion of CSO Enabling Environment in Asia: Strategy and Action’ was also organized.
The Goal 16 “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels is one of the 17 goals but considered as cross-cutting and indispensable pillar like the goal 17 without which the whole of SDGs cannot be achieved successfully. That is why It is one of 5 Ps – People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace and Partnership, and often called democratic governance or PHD (Peace, human rights and democracy). The 12 targets under the goal 16 are related to peace/non-violence including violence against children, anti-corruption/transparency and access to information, democracy and rule of law, and human rights/access to justice.
I4C inter-regional Meeting : Johannesburg (16-19 May, 2017)
The Inter-Regional Retreat took place on Tuesday, May 16th to Friday, May 19th at OPEN: Collaborative Work Spaces in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Building upon the feedback received from various incubators across 6 regions globally, this four-day event was a great effort to bring together the helper hub, regional hub incubators, board members, staff and community members to learn, finalize the global governance mechanism and provide a retreat for peer learning and strengthening inter-regional connections. Various parallel sessions were organised for new community and staff member orientation.
AGNA Meeting (19-20 May 2017)
More than 40 countries participated in this two days meeting, in a sub-group of approximately 15, and in small teams of 3 or 4
The main objectives of the two days meetings were:
- to refine and adjust the campaign for different countries/regions, including specific ideas for a SPEAK!
- to gain new skills in campaign development, the tools which can be applied to any other campaign that our organization may develop in the future (for ADA it’s SDG’s related campaigns)
- to share learnings with each other, including differences in the state of civic space and how this could/should impact the way we fight for our basic freedoms
The learning exchange focused on freedom of expression and campaigning, two key elements in today’s global context, particularly in those countries in which basic freedoms are under threat. The members got an opportunity to share inspiring stories and successful experiences in this field while acquiring new skills and capacities.
The sessions focused on new campaign SPEAK! Based on the experiences of Global Day of Citizen Action (GDCA), which CIVICUS helped coordinate over the past three years. The campaign has been huge success, therefore, the efforts during these two day’s meeting was to take things to the next level. So, in 2017, the campaign is now known as SPEAK!
The specific focus during the two day’s meeting was freedom of expression: helping to give a voice to everyone, everywhere. (The campaign will culminate in 3 days of global action, currently planned for September). This two-day workshop on SPEAK used the methodology created by the crew at Mobilisation Lab.
Useful Documents
The second annual SDG progress report prepared by the UN Secretary-General is available here
The brief timeline of the next steps on the HLPF Ministerial Declaration negotiations here
Bangladeshi CSOs Protest against Foreign Consultant and Foreign Funding Involvement in Climate Strategy Reveiw_Demand for an Inclusive and Country Driven Process
Bangladeshi 30 civil societies, trade unions, farmers and labor organization on 31st May at national press club Dhaka in a press conference protested the present government process of taking funding from a foreign agency and involving a foreign consultant to review its climate strategy plan which called BCCSAP (Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan). They have demanded an inclusive, transparent and participatory process involving a local expert.
Please find few English print media clips in this regard, you will find details in www.equitybd.net.
Reviews civil society and stakeholder engagement in voluntary national reviews and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
Access the report here.
WNTA three years report - India
Citizens’ Report on 3rd Year of the NDA Government-2017: Promises & Reality- Please access the report here
SDG’s main message
HLPF 2017 - VNR countries publishing "Main Messages"
You can find the information on the link here (Check “Voluntary National Reviews” and “2017”):
Countries in Asia that have already published “main messages” from VNR reports are:
2017 – State of Civil Society report - CIVICUS
The report can be accessed here
For Your Action
HLPF Draft program available
2017 HLP Please get the link of the draft programme of HLPF (UN website) schedule from July 10-19, 2017 in New York here
2017 HLPF: Pre-registration by MGoS [deadline extended until Thursday, 15 June midnight EST]
The deadline for eligible representatives of Major Groups and Other Stakeholders to pre-register to attend the 2017 session of the high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) has been extended until Thursday, 15 June, at midnight (EST).
In accordance with General Assembly resolution 67/270, pre-registration for the HLPF is open for two categories of NGOs:
• Organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC; and
• Organizations on the CSD Roster.
REGISTRATION LINK: bit.ly/HLPF2017
International Key Events related to SDGs 2017
| Dates |
Place |
Events |
| Feb 24-25 |
Bangkok |
ADA-APSD Regional Workshop on HLPF VNR on SDGs |
| Feb 25 |
Bangkok |
ADA Steering Committee Meeting |
| Feb. 26 |
Bangkok |
Regional Consultation on Civic Space in Asia – India, Pakistan, Cambodia, and the Philippines |
| Mar 1-3 |
Bonn, Germany |
Global Festival of Ideas (GFI) by UN SDGs Action Campaign and ODI |
| Mar 26-28 |
Bangkok |
Asia Pacific CSO Forum on SD |
| Mar 29-31 |
Bangkok |
UNESCAP Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) |
| April 5 |
Paris |
OECD Global Forum on Development |
| April 6 |
Oslo, Norway |
UNDP-OGP-CD Expert Workshop on SDG 16 Supplementary Indicators for National Government |
| April 20-22 |
Dhaka, Bangladesh |
ADA, Equity BD, SUPRO- National Workshop on SDGs |
| May 4-7 |
Yokohama |
ADB Annual General Assembly |
| May 13-20 |
Seoul and Gwangju, South Korea |
Asia Youth Leadership Forum for Democracy (AYLD) by ADN |
| June 18-19 |
Hamburg, Germany |
Civil 20 for G20 Summit |
| July 10-19 |
New York |
UN HLPF on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development / SDGs |
| July 17-19 |
New York |
UN HLPF Voluntary National Review (VNR) |
| July 29-Aug 1 |
Philippines |
ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/ASEAN People’s Forum (APF) |
| Sept. |
New York |
UN General Assembly |
| Oct. |
Cambodia |
GALAA East Asia – SDG 10, 16 and 17 |
| Oct-Nov |
TBC |
People’s SAARC and SAARC Summit |
| Nov. |
Pokhara, Nepal |
GALAA South Asia – SDG 10, 16 and 17
|
| Dec. 4-8 |
Fiji |
International Civil Society Week (ICSW) by CIVICUS |
|
