APSD - ADA Statement on Agenda 2030

March 27, 2018, Bangkok

Asia Civil Society Partnership on Sustainable Development (APSD) is an open, inclusive and independent civil society platform of CSOs/NGOs at the regional level engaged in the issues of Agenda 2030 and climate change.

We are issuing a statement raising our concerns over and giving recommendations for the better implementation of Agenda 2030.

We are:
1. Concerned with the increasing shrinking civic space and human rights violations of human rights defenders and democracy advocates globally as reported by the UN special procedures on human rights defenders, freedom of expression, freedom of association and association,
2. Concerned about the erosion of rule of law and denial of access to justice such as the right to life as witnessed in the forms of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and extra-judicially killing of innocent people and human rights defenders globally and in particular the Asia Pacific region,
3. Reaffirming the principles of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which are transformational, inclusive, accountable and universal as indicated in the motto of “Leave No One Behind”,
4. Reaffirming the importance of the inter-linkages and integrated nature of the sustainable development built upon key pillars of social and economic development and environmental integration,
5. Reaffirming the importance of the inter-dependence between sustainable development and peace as emphasized in the Preamble of the 2030 Agenda “there can be sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development’,
6. Recognizing the cross-cutting nature of equality goals related to multi-dimensional inequalities such as Goal 5(gender inequality), Goal 10 (economic and social Inequality) and Goal 16 (political inequality),
7. Recognizing the importance of SDG 16 which is essential as enabler and accelerator of SDGs for peaceful, just and inclusive societies and various inter-governmental and multi-stake holders’ approaches and initiatives such as on Voluntary Supplemental Indicators for national governments by the Permanent Secretariat of Community of Democracies (PSCD), initiatives such as the Pathfinders for SDG 16+ and SDG 16 Data Initiative (www.SDG16.org),
 
8. Recognize the importance of Goal 10 as a cross-cutting issue which need to be included in all VNR report to the UN HLPF.

9. Recognizing the importance of the human rights-based, gender-sensitive, and conflict sensitive approach to the implementation of the SDGs as emphasized in the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Promoting international cooperation to support national human rights follow-up systems, processes and related mechanisms, and their contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 
10. Stressing the role of sub-national (regional or local) governments and local communities and civil society in the bottom up implementation of SDGs as emphasized in para 77 and 79 of the UN 2030 Agenda,
11. Recalling the importance of knowledge and skills necessary for sustainable development through awareness-building about and comprehensive education of environment, sustainable consumption, human rights, gender equality, culture of peace and non-violence, cultural diversity as well as global citizenship as emphasized in the SDG Target 4.7, 
12. Recognizing the catalytic role of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the effective implementation of SDGs as emphasized in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) in 2015,
13. Recognizing the importance of policy and institutional coherence in terms of internationally agreed norms such as peace, human rights, anti-corruption and climate change as emphasized in the Target 17.13 and 17.14,
14. Recognizing the importance of public, public-private and civil society partnerships for sustainable development based on the internationally recognized norms and principles such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) as emphasized in para 67 of the UN 2030 Agenda and Communiqué of the Hamburg G20 Summit 2017, 
15. Recognizing the importance of the high quality, timely and reliable data with citizen participation and independent monitoring of the SDG implementation from the perspective of the most marginalized and excluded people, specially migrants, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, and Dalits, etc. as emphasized in the Target 17.18, 
16. Recognizing the importance of cooperation among international and regional organizations and processes such as Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) of China, Japan and South Korea, UN Economic and Social Commission in the Asia and Pacific (ESCAP)’s Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, UNDP’s Regional Knowledge Exchange, etc. to align the SDGs with their development strategies and action plans,
17. Recognizing with appreciation the value of networking and cooperation among international coalitions of CSOs engaged in the implementation of SDGs at international (regional and global) level such as Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM), Action for Sustainable Development (A4SD), Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network and International Forum of National NGO Platforms (IFP),

Call to Action:
1) Call on all governments, especially Asian governments to work in partnership with civil society to achieve the SDGs, in particular Goal 16 and Goal 10 and other cross-cutting goals for more peaceful, just, inclusive and egalitarian societies,
2) Call on all governments, especially Asian governments, to tackle all forms of inequalities as emphasized in Goal 5 (gender inequality), Goal 10 (economic and social inequality) and Goal 16 (political inequality) as top priority in the realization of all SDGs, 
3) Calls on all governments, especially Asian governments, to promote women’s political participation which is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as the SDGs,
4) Call on all governments, especially Asian governments, to respect the right to the public participation of human rights defenders and promote the role of civil society for the implementation of SDGs as an equal partner in policy-making and program implementation on the ground, as well as monitoring,
5) Call on all governments, especially Asian governments, to protect civic space and create an enabling environment that allows civil society organizations (CSOs) to maximize their contribution to sustainable and inclusive development, as well as a commitment to strengthen their development effectiveness,
6) Call on all governments, especially Asian governments, to proactively promote multi-stakeholder partnerships and inclusive mechanisms for civil society engagement on issues related to Goal 16 and its targets such as the Open Government Partnership (OGP), SDG 16 Data Initiative and Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies (SDG 16+), 
7) Call on the multi-lateral development banks such as the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to ensure that human rights and environmental standards are respected in their loans to any projects related to the achievement of the SDGs,
8) Call on UNESCAP, UNDP, UNEP and other international organizations to provide more and more meaningful space for CSO engagement on SDGs and promote genuine public, public-private and civil society partnerships for sustainable development (Target 17.17) based on the internationally recognized norms and principles such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) (para 67, UN 2030 Agenda),
9) Call on the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to regard SDG 16 and Goal 10 as a permanent global cross-cutting priority and reviewed on an annual basis, like SDG 17, and link it to the existing UN human rights monitoring mechanisms such as the UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies and special procedures, Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and thematic forums on related issues including the human rights, democracy and the rule of law, 
10) Call on UNESCAP and member states in the Asia and Pacific to make, SDG 16 and cross-cutting goals related to inequalities such as Goal 5 and 10 integral component of the Regional Roadmap for Implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and other policies on SDGs,
11) Call on sub-national (provincial, local and metropolitan) governments to work in partnership with civil society for the implementation of SDGs, and Goal 16, 10 and 11 in particular,
12) Call on the legislative (both national and sub-national bodies) and judiciary branches of both developed and developing countries to work together for the promotion of rule of law and access to justice for the realization of the SDG 16 and other related goals, 
13) Call on all independent national public institutions such as the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), Anti-corruption Commissions and electoral management bodies to step up their efforts to make their governments more transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs and rights of the people in the realization of SDGs,
14) Call on KOICA and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and other development agencies in Asia to step up their efforts to work together with CSOs for the effective implementation of SDGs, in particular Goal 16 nd Goal 10 and other cross-cutting goals,
15) Call on all participating countries in the forthcoming 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to recognize sport as important enabler of sustainable development in its promotion of peace, tolerance and respect (para 37 of UN 2030 Agenda) to work together for peaceful settlement of security challenges in the Korean peninsular and the Asia region. 
Finally, we commit ourselves to implement fully those calls to action in partnership and solidarity, especially through engaging the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF), Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) and Voluntary National Review (VNR) process in terms of capacity-building, multi-stake holder partnership and advocacy including monitoring reports on SDG 16, Goal 10 and other important goals.

Signatories:

1. ACT Alliance Asia
2. Asia Development Alliance (ADA)

3. Asia Democracy Network (ADN)


4. Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) Asia