CSO Collective Statement on VNR - APFSD, March 30, 2022

Presented by Jyotsna Mohan

Asia Development Alliance

The VNRs are supposed to promote open and inclusive dialogue among countries and stakeholders on national implementation of the 2030 Agenda , which is missing even among those who are presenting for the second or third term. Even as governments in the region are trying to recover from the pandemic,  conflict situation in south and east Asia, financial crisis (Sri Lanka) and ongoing  (Russia-Ukraine) war has had a huge impact on Asia-Pacific leading to intensifying refugee crisis, continued depleting resources and more so . Amid these challenges, the region is not on track to achieve the 2030 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. We should maybe be honest and not call it 2030 Agenda anymore, but 2065 agenda.

While it is good to note  an increase in the number of countries pointing to human rights-based approaches, inter-generational responsibility, and planetary boundaries with references to the transformational nature of the 2030 Agenda, with the principle of leaving no one behind; the number of VNR reports that reported the formal inclusion of non-state actors in governance arrangements has dropped considerably in 2021 with no recognition of the shrinking civic space or ongoing attacks on human rights defenders and environmentalists. Conversely, several national civil society reports have categorically mentioned these issues in various countries.

The authoritative regimes in many countries amplified during the last two years of COVID Pandemics and the continued shrinking civic space, all over the globe and so in the Asia-Pacific region. The top ten violations include : (i) Protestors detained (ii) Harassment (iii) Censorship (iv) Detention (v) Attacks on Journalists (vi) Protest Disruption (vii) Restrictive Laws (viii) Journalists detained (ix) Excessive Force used (x) Human Rights Defenders Detained. Technology advances have brought increased surveillance on civil society and created new risks for civic space. The region is one of the deadliest when it comes to attack and killing of environmental defenders.

The levels of data availability also vary across the countries and territories of the region. The top five countries in the region for data availability are the Philippines, Armenia, Thailand, Georgia and Indonesia, where approximately 75 percent of the indicators have data . On the other side of the spectrum, 16 countries or territories still report data for less than 50 per cent of the indicators. 

So far, hardly any VNR reports, systemic reforms with transformative potential . identifies structural barriers to them and they also lack self-critical reflection with focus on their development successes.

Lesson Learnt and Recommendations 

On Interlinkages and Coherence

• A strategic vision for implementing the 2030 Agenda underpinned by a clear political commitment and leadership and political will to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development.

• Effective and inclusive institutional and governance mechanisms to address policy interactions across sectors and align actions between levels of government.

People’s Centric VNRs

• Recognise SDGs as the framework to set the agenda for capacity building of different stakeholders including civil society, and to address issues of human rights, criminal justice, and upholding the rule of law and and empower grassroots communities and various movements

• We call for people centric  VNRs with ensuring the availability of adequate processes for citizens’ dialogue not limiting to a time bound participation 

• Support civil society organizations through public financing, consultation, collaboration, and the creation of broader spaces to amplify their voices and express their advocacies without threat of co-optation

• Officially include citizen’s led data in the VNR to supplement the data gaps

• Likewise consult with marginalized sectors in surveying for their needs i.e., persons with disabilities, elderly to ensure their needs and special circumstance/s are considered in relief / aid giving especially during health and economic crisis. 

• Fully realize the “National” character of the VNR as a first step with inclusive and broad consultation  ensuring ‘no one is left behind’ followed by the regional and the global level presentations/showcase

• Annual review SDG 16 along with SDG 17 

• Sequential and frequent VNRs are recommended for all countries in the Asia and Pacific between now and 2030. The VNRs represent an important exercise for countries to tackle the complex and interlinked nature of the SDGs. Countries tend to deepen their review from the second VNR onwards and engage with more technical matters such as data, indicators and monitoring as they move past their first VNR. This needs to also benefit reviewing the state of the environment related SDG goals.

Support for environmental data gathering and analysis is recommended. Several countries do recognize the importance of environmental sustainability. Most are however not able to review their progress on the environmental SDGs goals and targets due to lack of data and indicators. Regarding data and indicators, we recommend that the UN help strengthen the reporting of environment-related indicators in VNRs in general and those under Goals 8, 12, 9, 3, 11, 15, 5 and 14 in particular.