ADA Newsletter- April 2018

Dear ADA members and Friends, 
As we march from March 2018 towards April, the activities around SDGs are getting intensified with many national level official VNR consultations in Bhutan, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Singapore and other countries in Asia. The CSOs in these countries are also gearing up for the big fat annual event called High-Level Political Forum (9-18 July 2018, New York). We also urge, let’s not only prepare for this one-time event, but SDGs’ monitoring and review should be an integral process in our national mechanism. Let’s be vigilant, responsible and accountable for our activities and work in solidarity towards nation building for which the civil society has been widely recognized across the globe.

Also, 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
National Activities
LPDR Meeting, Vientiane, 26-27 April 2018
Sri Lanka SDG Network Meeting, Colombo, 26 April, Colombo
Regional Activities
LAC Forum on Sustainable Development -Santiago de 16-20 April, 2018
Global Activities
UN High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace - 24-25 April, New York
Useful Documents
Handbook for Preparation of Voluntary National Reviews – DESA and DSD
ADA Guidelines on CSO's Engagement in the VNR Process
For your Action
Registration and Funding for attending the HLPF 2018/Inscription au HLPF 2018
Voluntary National Review (VNR)
International Calendar
 
 ADA and Members Activities

National Activities

Lao PDR CSO's Meeting, Vientiane, 26-27 April 2018

Lao CSOs Coordination Office (LCCO) is a network of CSOs in Lao PDR, with local and national CSOs member organizations/associations nationwide who are working on the ground.  LCCO has also been invited to government’s SDGs discussions and meetings.
Lao CSOs came together to discuss the draft VNR, at a workshop organized by LCCO, from April 26-27, 2018, at Vansana Riverside Hotel, Vientiane.  The CSOs also came up with an outcome document as their concerns and recommendations to the VNR. About 40 civil society members from across the country representing various sections participated. The CSOs have also have prepared civil society statement to be submitted to the government where they have our concerns and recommendations to the VNR on each goal.

The Civil society organisations in Sri Lanka  have formed Sri Lanka Stakeholder SDG Platform – a multi stake holder platform of CSO, academic, local government, business, activist, professional, youth, women etc. The platform was formed on 8th March , 2018 followed by a national consultation on  26th April in Colombo having convergence of these stakeholders to facilitate an ‘inclusive transformation“In Sri Lanka with an aim to establish an ‘independent monitoring and Reporting Mechanism ’ on the SDGs in Sri Lanka called ‘Voluntary People’s Report, with almost 120 people from human rights groups, Private Sector, academia , etc. in attendance.  The consultation culminated into making some strong outputs on Report preparations by experts including environmentalists, gender groups, youth, LGBTIQ, fisherman's etc.
The report will come out in another 4-6 weeks

Regional Activities

LAC Forum on Sustainable Development -Santiago de 16-20 April 2018

The LAC Forum on Sustainable Development that took place in Santiago de Chile from April 16th to 20th. This regional forum was organized under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean -ECLAC-, hence,  it's considered as the regional chapter of the HLPF. 
 
A regional workshop was also organized on April 16th - on methodologies for elaborating spotlight reports and how to use these as advocacy tools- followed by a Civil Society consultation on 17th April focusing on building a participation mechanism in the context of the Forum.
Mr. Anselmo LEE, SeniorAdvisor, ADA,  shared the Asian CSO experiences about engagement on SDGs including UN HLPF VNR, etc. at the CSO consultation about SDGs in Latin America and Caribbean countries at ECLAC, Santiago, Chile.

Global Activities

UN High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace - 24-25 April, New York

The UN High-Level meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustainable peace took place in New York on 24-25 April while the concrete steps were taken for the historic Inter-Korean Summit on 26 April on peace-building in the Korean peninsula, Asia and beyond!
UNGA President Miroslav Lajcak convened a high-level meeting to assess efforts undertaken and opportunities to strengthen the UN's work on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. As specific objectives, the meeting reflected on how to: 1) Adjust to the new UN approach to peace with the emphasis on conflict prevention; 2) Strengthen operational and policy coherence within the United Nations system towards peacebuilding and sustaining peace; 3) Increase, restructure and better prioritize funding to United Nations peacebuilding activities; 4) Strengthen partnerships between the UN and key stakeholders in the field; 5) Address the root causes of conflict to sustain peace; 6) Address the role of women and youth in peacebuilding.
 Please read the details here

Useful Documents

Handbook for Preparation of Voluntary National Reviews  – DESA and DSD

 ADA Guidelines on CSO's Engagement in the VNR Process  
 
Voluntary common reporting guidelines for voluntary national reviews at the HLPF can be found here. They are an update to the annex of the 2015 Secretary-General’s Report on critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level, A/70/684.
 
Link: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17346Updated_Voluntary_Guidelines.pdf
 
More information on the 2018 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is available at  https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2018
 
NEPAL Sustainable Development Goals Status and Roadmap: 2016-2030: Read the full report here
 
The 2016 CSO Sustainability Index for Asia: Read the full report here


For your Action

Registration and Funding for attending the HLPF 2018

The DESA/OISC has just launched the registration process for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in 2018. The meeting will be held from Monday, 9 July, to Wednesday, 18 July 2018.For more information on the forum, including the 47 countries that will be making their voluntary national presentations (VNRs), please see the following website: 
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2018

Registration is open for two categories of NGOs to participate in the HLPF: 
• Organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC (list); and 
• Organizations on the CSD Roster (list). 

 
This year, the DESA/OISC is accepting Nominations to receive travel funding of a number of representatives of Major Groups and Other Stakeholders from developing VNR countries. The deadline for submitting the nomination form is 22 May 2018.  The requirements are the following:
 

• The nominee must have dully registered and be accredited to attend the 2018 HLPF (https://bitly.com/HLPF2018)
• The nominee must possess a valid passport, be based in and directly engaging in processes related to the voluntary national review of one of the developing countries presenting this year:
• Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Cabo Verde, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Guinea, Jamaica, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Mali, Mexico, Namibia, Niger, Paraguay, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sri Lanka, State of Palestine, Sudan, Togo, Uruguay, Viet Nam
• The nominee must demonstrate her/his active role in processes related to the participation of stakeholders in the implementation and follow up of the 2030 Agenda.
• The nominee must be able to make all necessary visa arrangements (including transit visa, where applicable) to enter the United States. The United Nations is not able to assist with passports or visas;
• The nominee must commit to engage in preparatory work and to follow all the tasks as established in the Terms of Reference for this funding:

1. Agree to undertake consultations at the national level prior to the HLPF.
2. Agree to actively participate in the HLPF preparatory work of major groups and other stakeholders, especially on actions related to the engagement with VNR countries.
3. Commit to report back to stakeholders at the national level after the HLPF.

Voluntary National Review (VNR)

In 2018, 48 countries will be conducting voluntary national reviews at the HLPF. For more details, please click here.
The following countries from Asia will be presenting their VNR in (10): Bahrain; Bhutan; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Lebanon; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Sri Lanka; United Arab Emirates; Vietnam
 
7 NOV 2017
A Global Preparatory Meeting in Support of the Review of SDG 7 at the 2018 High-level Political Forum
 
Frequently Asked Questions on HLPF Registration, Funding etc. - Prepared by the UN Major Group

As the 2018 High Level Political Forum is just around the corner, you may find yourselves wondering about the details of how to engage. To answer your questions, we've put together a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that addresses the following: 

1. How can I participate at the HLPF? 
a. As an attendee from an organization with ECOSOC or CSDstatus 
b. As an attendee from an organization without ECOSOC status (through the MGoS) 
c. As an expert speaker 

2. How can I get funding to attend the HLPF?  

3. How can I be part of Major Groups and other Stakeholders’ participation at the HLPF?  
a. HLPF Task Teams of the HLPF CM 
b. HLPF Task Teams of the NGO Major Group 

Please see the attached document (which will soon be on the NGO MG website) as your first stop to answer these questions. 

 Frequently Asked Questions - HLPF 2018.pdf 

International Calendar

• 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/