ADA Newsletter- October-November 2018

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ADA NewsletterOctober-November 2018


Dear ADA members and Friends, 
 

We are pleased to share with you all the AD Newsletter for October-November, 2018. These last two months have been full of activities and events around the globe and it became a challenge on what to cover! However, with us, inching closely to the end of the year, our friends and colleagues are preparing themselves for 2019 which becomes very crucial as some of the most contested goals are going to be reviewed as it appears , the best was kept for the last J. We are all going to witness the 1st round of HLPF getting over and we prepare ourselves more to HLPF review with many suggestions already pouring in that needs to be corroborated, collated and presented and we have been stressing on a lot of capacity building training workshops especially on Goal 16, linking it with peace and human rights and preparing for a collective action in 2019.

 
So let’s keep our energies focussed on something we are so good at!! Capacitating as many people as we can make sure the last one in the line is covered !!
 
Please feel free to give your suggestions on how to improve our communication with you on   ada2030.secretariat@gmail.com
 
In solidarity, 

ADA Secretariat
                         
 
 
 

Table of Contents

ADA and Members Activities.
Global Activities.
World Human Rights Cities Forum – Gwangju, South Korea (18-21 October, 2018)
Open Government Partnership: Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting 2018 :“Promoting Democracy, Improving Governance, Renewing Trust” - Seoul, Korea, on November 5-6, 2018.
Session: “Strengthening Governance through Inclusivity: Integration of Leaving No One Behind in the Sustainable Development Agenda” 
Organizers: Asia Democracy Network (ADN), Asia Development Alliance (ADA)
Global Forum on Human Rights and Development – 23 November 2018, Geneva.
Regional Activities.
ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ ASEAN Peoples’ Forum : 2-4 November 2018,  Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild 
Joint statement to ASEAN leaders post-ACSC/APF 2018 : ASEAN must not consider the option of voluntary return without addressing the root causes of the displacement and entrenched discrimination of the Rohingya.
National Activities.
National Stakeholders Consultation Workshop.
Voluntary National Review Process- Focusing on Rights of Persons with Disabilities
20th Nov, 2018 at Islamabad, Pakistan.
Useful Documents.
The Shortcomings of SDGs and Possible Solutions
[Together2030] *New resource* Civil society quick guide to engaging in Voluntary National Reviews 6
Forus Toolkit here.
For your Action.
THEMATIC SDG REVIEWS..
REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETINGS..
WORKSHOPS.. 8
International Calendar
 
 
 

      ADA and Members Activities

 

Global Activities

 

World Human Rights Cities Forum – Gwangju, South Korea (18-21October, 2018)

The World Human Rights Cities Forum, hosted by Kwangju City, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and the Kwangju Office of Education, kicked off a four-day event at the Kim Daejung Convention Center on the afternoon of the 18th.  The World Forum on Human Rights Cities, held this year, themed, "Who do we live with? Diversity, Embracing and Peace, "40 seminars and other events were organisedbased on seven themes.   In particular, this forum has been co-hosted with the National Human Rights Commission and establishing a new model for collaboration between the central government and local governments.  The Opening Ceremony was held in celebration of Gwangju International Cultural Center Civic Choir's "March for yours", followed by opening remarks by Lee Yong-sup, Gwangju Mayor, welcome by Choi Young-ae, Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, and celebration.
e54db405-5b61-4ee2-bcb3-cecf0dd10e7a.jpgADA in partnership with ADAorganised a two days workshop under the theme “Human Rights Cities for UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies” on 19-20 Oct. 2018 as part of the 8th World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) (18-21 Oct. 2018)www.whrcf.org
The Workshop aimed at providing space and opportunities for mutual learning and exchange among people engaged in human rights cities internationally including South Korea.  More specifically, the Workshop made efforts to developing common long-term action agenda and plans for human rights cities in line with the UN 2020 Agenda for Sustainable Development / Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN HRC’s resolutions on local government and human rights to be adopted in September 2018.
The Workshop also aimed at revising the Gwangju Guiding Principles for Human Rights Cities which was adopted in 2014 in order to update it with the new development such as the SDGs, and HABITAT III relevant to human rights city.
This way the workshop gotsynchronised with the  human rights cities to broaden and align their policies and strategies with international norms and agenda for sustainable and synergetic impacts.

 

Open Government Partnership: Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting2018 :“Promoting Democracy, Improving Governance, Renewing Trust” - Seoul, Korea, on November 5-6, 2018.

 

67c8268d-501a-4381-9cf6-4628126556d5.jpgThe Government of the Republic of Korea hosted the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting 2018 in Seoul, Korea, on November 5-6, 2018.

In its role as a member of the OGP Steering Committee, the Republic of Korea convened open government leaders and practitioners from across the region to raise collective ambition and generate new political support to make governments more transparent, accountable, and responsive to citizens.

The OGP Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting has been a great opportunity for OGP members and non-members to share lived experiences and explore a path towards open government under the themes of promoting participatory democracy, improving governance for a better life for all, and renewing public trust through government innovation.
Boo-kyum KIM, Minister of the Interior and Safety, Sue-jung PARK, secretary general of Citizens Coalition for Better Government, and Sanjay Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer of OGP gave opening remarks

Session: “Strengthening Governance through Inclusivity: Integration of Leaving No One Behind in the Sustainable Development Agenda”

 

Organizers: Asia Democracy Network (ADN), Asia Development Alliance (ADA)

 

82e2ed8a-5342-4aa4-8a2e-c70fc544eec7.jpgAsia Democracy Network in collaboration with Asia Development Alliance (ADA), organized a session as a part of OGP Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting. The session was based on the fact that the United Nations Member States pledged to ensure that “no one will be left behind” when adopting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (SDGs). The SDGs has become the guiding spirit of the member states when developing and implementing the goals into their respective national policy. This discussion session aimed to gather a diverse panel of speakers from civil society, academia, and the government to assess how respectively they have integrated inclusivity in the planning and implementation of the 2030 agenda and share challenges and best practices.
 

 Global Forum on Human Rights and Development – 23 November 2018, Geneva9586021b-fc3d-4d23-8e7b-858de509a8e8.jpg

2018 is a critical year for human rights. It commemorates the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, 25th Anniversary of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, 25th Anniversary of the Paris Principles and the 20th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. To mark this special year, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is organised an event on the 23 November 2018 in Geneva, to discuss the challenges we face today and how we can collectively work together to shape the future.

 
 

Regional Activities

 

ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ ASEAN Peoples’ Forum : 2-4 November 2018,  Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild

 

eaba397f-a50b-40c9-acd6-7ddb51fabeb1.jpgThe ASEAN Civil Society Conference and ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (ACSC/APF), a solidarity gathering of diverse civil society organizations (CSOs) in Southeast Asia, carries a strong mandate in representing and strengthening ASEAN peoples’ voices especially from disadvantaged and marginalized groups, to engage ASEAN member states and mechanisms, by honoring mutual respect, integrity, joint development and promoting peoples’ solidarity. It focuses on ASEAN’s commitment to its people using the principles of human rights, democracy, equality, and development. This year's conference theme is "Empowering Peoples’ Solidarity Against All Forms of Discrimination”.

The engagement of ACSC/APF in the ASEAN process brings attention to the issues and concerns of its constituents – the working class, the peasantry, urban poor, fisherfolk, women, children, LGBT community, indigenous peoples, the older persons, persons with disabilities, employees, professionals, migrants, and students.
 
Some of the ADA members also attended this forum. ADA Senior advisor, Mr. Anselmo LEE spoke on ‘How CSOs can leverage on SDGs in their advocacy efforts to an audience of 200 or so guests from a diverse range of regional civil society organisations from all ASEAN member states and Timor Leste
Mr. Denison Jayasooriya highlighted the theme of Sustainable Development Goals - the 2030 agenda with that the ASEAN community vision of 2025 drawing complementarities and lessons.
https://www.acscapf2018.org/?fbclid=IwAR0O9kP73GIVhVQ9SszdnW0kp__1BGX5vv5TtpmzdB61V6OATz1cUlf3_4g
 
ACSC/APF 2018 Statement

Joint statement to ASEAN leaders post-ACSC/APF  : ASEAN must not consider the option of voluntary return without addressing the root causes of the displacement and entrenched discrimination of the Rohingya2018

 
 

  National Activities

 
 

 National Stakeholders Consultation Workshop

Voluntary National Review Process- Focusing on Rights of Persons with Disabilities20th 2018 at Islamabad, Pakistan Nov,

df2e667a-028d-4f49-a21f-7ca1e4f305a3.jpgPakistan presents its Voluntary National Review Report on during theHigh Level Political Forum 2019. In order to extract some key learning and recommendations for SDGs implementation status in the context of disability rights, Sightsavers, AwazCDS-Pakistan and Pakistan Development Alliance (PDA) collaboratively organized a one day National Consultation workshop on VNR Report process on 20th Nov,2018 at Islamabad. In this consultation workshop representative from Government line Departments i.e Federal SDG Unit, Ministry of Planning and Development, Social Welfare and Special Education Departments CSOs, INGOs, Disable Person Organizations (DPOs) from all over Pakistan participated and shared their inputs and recommendations for the VNR report process.
Full Report here
 

Useful Documents

The Shortcomings of SDGs and Possible Solutions 

 
[Together2030] *New resource* Civil society quick guide to engaging in Voluntary National Reviews
Download Voluntary National Reviews Engaging in national implementation and review of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals – a quick guide for civil society (PDF 1.6Mb)
 

Forus Toolkit here 

 
Guidelines for CSO shadow reports monitoring the implementation of Agenda 2030 at national level
 
Advocacy Toolkit on Post-2015 Agenda

Everything you need to know about the VNR process
 
Checklist - Is your NGO ready to monitor and implement SDGs
 
 

For your Action

High-level Political Forum, 2019
The meeting of the high-level political forum on sustainable development in 2019 convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, will be held from Tuesday, 9 July, to Thursday, 18 July 2019; including the three-day ministerial meeting of the forum from Tuesday, 16 July, to Thursday, 18 July 2019.
The theme will be "Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality". The set of goals to be reviewed in depth is the following:
  • Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
  • Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
  • Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
  • Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
  • Goal 16Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
  • Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
For more information on Thematic SDG Reviews, click here.
LOGISTICAL INFORMATION
Coming Soon
REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION
Coming Soon
VOLUNTARY NATIONAL REVIEWS
The voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challengesand lessons learned, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The VNRs also seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The VNR countries are expected to submit comprehensive written reports that will be made available in the VNR database. In addition, each VNR country will also provide main messages summarizing their key findings. These main messages are also posted in the VNR database.
In 2019, the 51 countries (10 for the second time) below will be conducting voluntary national reviews at the HLPF. For more details, please click here.

THEMATIC SDG REVIEWS

Thematic reviews of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including cross-cutting issues and interlinkages, are an essential part of the annual session of the High-level Political Forum under the auspices of the ECOSOC.
As well as providing an update on where we stand in terms of progress on individual SDGs, thematic reviews offer critical insights into the implementation of the SDGs, while facilitating peer learning, exchange of experiences, identifying lessons learned as well as gaps.
These thematic reviews will benefit from reviews by the ECOSOC functional commissions and other intergovernmental bodies and forums.
In addition, DESA in collaboration with relevant UN-system entities and other partners will organize preparatory events such as Expert Group Meetings on the SDGs under review. The outcomes of these preparatory events will serve to inform the HLPF's deliberations.

Calendar of preparatory thematic events for 2019 HLPF under ECOSOC

Expert Group Meeting on SDG 4: 3-5 December 2018, Brussels
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 8:tbc 
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 10:tbc
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 13: 4-6 March 2019, Copenhagen
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 16:tbc
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 17:tbc
Expert Group Meeting on interlinkages:tbc

REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETINGS

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE): 21 – 22 March 2019, Geneva, Switzerland
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP): 27 – 29 March 2019, Bangkok, Thailand
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA): 16 – 18 April 2019, Beirut, Lebanon
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): 22- 26 April 2019, Santiago de Chile, Chile
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA): April 2019 (Date and venue tbc)

 

WORKSHOPS

 
e022c7b3-1012-472e-b091-fb7001d4036e.jpg
 

 

 

International Calendar

Dates Venue Events
Jan. 22-24 Busan, South Korea Busan Democracy Forum (BuDF) on SDG 16+, Korea
Jan. 24 Busan, South Korea ADA Annual Members’ Meeting
Feb.    
March. Bonn, Germany Global Festival of Ideas (GFI) 2, many
March 25-27 Bangkok Asia Pacific People’s Forum on Sustainable Development
March 28-30 Bangkok UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD)
April 26-27 Vientiane National CSO consultation on the VNR Process
April 26 Colombo National CSO consultation on Voluntary people’s Review
April Singapore ASEAN Summit-32
May -6 Manila ADB Annual Meeting-51
July 9-18 New York, HLPF-6 (SDG 6,7,11,12,15 and 17)
July 16-18 New York HLPF Voluntary National Review (VNR)-3
Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, Bhutan, Sri Lanka
August 6-7 Buenos Aires C 20
Aug. 23-30 Colombo GALA Training on Linking Human Rights with Development
Sept. New York UN General Assembly-7
Sept. 25   3rd Anniversary of UN SDGs Adoption
3-4 September Tbilisi, Georgia North and Central Asia Forum on Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
5-6 September Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia North-East Asian Multi-stakeholder Forum on Sustainable Development Goals
11-12 September Bangkok, Thailand South East Asia Forum on Implementation of the
Sustainable Development Goals
17-18 September New Delhi, India South and South West Asia Forum on Implementation of the
Sustainable Development Goals
24-25 September Nadi, Fiji Pacific Forum on Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
8-14 October, 2018 Bali, Indonesia IMF and World Bank Annual Meeting
18-20 October Gwangju, S. Korea World Human Rights Cities Forum 2018
Nov. 30 – Dec.1 Buenos Aires, Argentina G20 Summit
Dec. 3-14 Poland UNFCCC COP-24
Dec. 10-12 Almaty, Kazakhstan Central-Asia ADA’s Capacity Building Training on SDGs and VNR and National Coalition Strengthening
December 17-18 New Delhi, india South-South Civil Society Conclave, 17th-18th December 2018, New Delhi
 

 
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  • ADA's official website has been renewed. All the information related to the implementation of SDGs in Asia and actions conducted by Asian CSOs will be accumulated on this website. Please visit www.ada2030.org
  • ADA's Facebook page has been activated! The page will channel useful information among civil society actors in Asia. Feel free to tag @Asia Development Alliance in future collaboration. The page is accessible with this web address: https://www.facebook.com/ada2030/ 

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