ADA Newsletter- August-September 2018

Dear ADA members and Friends, 
 
We are pleased to share with you all the AD Newsletter for August -September 2018. The last two months have been quite productive with various activities around the Sustainable Development Goals as it also marked the 3rd anniversary of their adoption by 193 countries of the world. Therehave been various discussion around linking peace and human rights with SDG 16 and ADA has been advocating on this especially in today's era when both peace and conflict go hand in hand. The peace talks around the Korean peninsula has been a remarkable one and many countries can take lessons to move forward towards attaining peace which has also marked as a human right in the UN Declaration.
 
With this hope, we march toward the last and another important segment of the years.
 
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
Nepal- 3rd Anniversary Day of SDGs Marked in Nepal, Kathmandu, 25 September 2018
Pakistan- Mobilization in Pakistan on Global day of action
Regional Activities
Glo-cal Advocacy Leadership Academy (GALA): ‘Mainstreaming Peace and Human Rights in the CSO engagement with SDGs in Asia’ (23-30 August, 2018), Colombo
UNESCAP- Webinar Series on Stakeholder Engagement Module 1: An Introduction to Stakeholder Engagement in the 2030 Agenda, 19 September 18
Global Activities.
FORUS General Assembly and Strategic week, Santiago, Chile (3-8 September)
73rd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 73)
Useful Documents.
For your Action
IMF and World Bank Annual Meeting, Bali, Indonesia – October 8-14, 2018
2018 IMF-WBG Annual Meetings || Civil Society Policy Forum
Sub-regional meetings on the 2030 Agenda – Preparation for the 2019 Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development
International Calendar

ADA and Members Activities

National Activities

Nepal- 3rd Anniversary Day of SDGs Marked in Nepal, Kathmandu, 25 September 2018

Nepal NGO Forum  (NFN) which is also the CSO Forum on SDGs, along with UNDP and Government of Nepal National Planning Commission, NGO Federation, organised the 3rd anniversary of Sustainable Development Goals in Kathmandu on 25th September in Kathmandu. The government of Nepal acknowledged that all the programs in Nepal are SDGs coded and the SDGs have been institutionalised in the country. Government of Nepal was among the first countries in the world to publish SDG status report taking stock of the progress made in the past 15 years and setting national targets and indicators for the next 15 years.

Please refer to the full report here
 

Pakistan- Mobilization in Pakistan on Global day of action

Awaz  CDS Pakistan and PDA organized mobilization in two most important districts of Pakistan; one in District Rajan purwhich is one of the remotest districts in Pakistan and is announced as “Model district for SDG implementation”, second mobilization was in the largest city of Pakistan-Karachi, where media talk/ sensitization were organized at Karachi Press Club.
·      Letters were written to the Prime minister of Pakistan for suggesting points on upcoming policies/reforms in Girls quality secondary education and promoting SDG4.
·        Letters was dispatched on their recent assessment on “where we stand on SDGs implementation in Pakistan”  to the Foreign minister of Pakistan before his departure to UNGA.
·         Twitter campaign was organized from 24th-27th of September. Please find below twitter handle of AwazCDS-Pakistan and PDA:
@Awazcds2 and @PDA4SDGs
 

Regional Activities

Glo-cal Advocacy Leadership Academy (GALA): ‘Mainstreaming Peace and Human Rights in the CSO engagement with SDGs in Asia’ (23-30 August, 2018), Colombo

The GALAA 2018 under the theme ?Mainstreaming Peace and Human Rights in the CSO engagement with SDGs in Asia‘ was organized in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 23 to 30 August 2018 by Asia Development Alliance (ADA) in partnership with INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre as a local host and International Forum of National NGO Platform (IFP) and Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network as international partner organizations.
The 30 selected participants (from Asia and Pacific) were oriented on synergizing local and global connect (bottom up and top down) apart from the role of public advocacy which is a set of organized (communicative) actions by CSOs and people themselves to influence development policy-making process – planning, implementation and evaluation - and outcomes for sustainable positive change / transformation through a variety of actions including campaign, lobby, litigation and direct actions and using Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a tool for the advocacy.
The program was also oriented towards linking and focusing SDGs on human rights, peace, environment, social movement, economic development, gender equality and democracy, and overall inclusive development. During the opening day, the participants also got to hear the
GALA being an annual regional training program organized by ADA is meant for the middle-level civil society leaders engaged in the engagement with SDGs in Asia since 2013 to mainstream cross-cutting issues such as human rights, democracy and peace in the SDGs with focus on SDG 16 and 17.
The program was financially supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the European Union through IFP.

UNESCAP- Webinar Series on Stakeholder Engagement Module 1: An Introduction to Stakeholder Engagement in the 2030 Agenda, 19 September 18

The process of formulating the 2030 Agenda was one of the most inclusive in the history of intergovernmental negotiations at the UN. It certainly lived up to the legacy of Agenda 21, and the precedents it set for ensuring that all stakeholders in society are included in the work of creating, implementing, and reviewing sustainable development policy. As the world moves quickly towards the year 2030 and the sustainability deadlines set by the agenda, it is critical that governments and stakeholders work together in partnership to further ensure progress is made on achieving the goals and targets of the framework.
in the 2030 Agenda, a bit of history, and specific references to the sections and text of the agenda where stakeholder engagement plays a particularly important role.
The webinar recording is available here

2nd North-East Asian Multi-Stakeholder Forum on SDGs on 5-6 September 2018

UNESCAP organized the 2nd North-East Asian Multistakeholder Forum on SDGs on 5-6 September 2018 in Ulanbataar, Mongolia. Many ADA members participated in the two days forum and presented views on Goal 10, goal 16 and other Sustainable Development Goals. ADA Senior advisor Mr. Anselmo LEE presented PPT about SDG 16+ in Northeast Asia.
 

Global Activities

FORUS General Assembly and Strategic week, Santiago, Chile (3-8 September)

FORUS, which is a global network of national civil society organization, celebrated its 10thyears anniversary in Santiago, Chile from 3 to 8th September. The occasion also witnessed the participation of almost with 47 National Platforms and 4 Regional Coalitions. The participants discussed the new narrative on Civil Society and Forus’s role to boost ecosystems for the NGOs.  Another workshop organised during the Forus' Strategic Week highlighted "Addressing challenges of NGO leadership" attended by the platforms of Seychelles, Hungary, Colombia, Denmark, Spain, the Philippines, Gambia and the Regional Coalition Asian Development Alliance for sharing their case studies!!!
 
On 7th  of September, Forus co-organised the High level debate with Acción AG and ECLAC on “Creating an Enabling environment for civil society and Agenda 2030”. More than 70 representatives from Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Pacific, and North America participated in the event.

73rd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 73)

 
The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 73) opened on 18 September 2018. The first day of the high-level General Debate was held on Tuesday, 25 September 2018.
The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 73) opened on 18 September 2018. The first day of the high-level General Debate was held on Tuesday, 25 September 2018.
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President-elect of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), announced in July 2018 that the theme of the general debate will be, ‘Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable, and Sustainable Societies.’ The list of speakers is here. In her opening statement to UNGA 73, UNGA 73 President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces outlined seven priority themes for the session, to: promote gender equality; promote and implement new global compacts on migration and refugees; highlight innovative thinking around the future of work; effort to protect the environment, particularly plastics pollution; raise awareness on persons with disabilities; implement the reform of the UN system; and promote peace.
On Monday, 24 September, the UNGA held a high-level plenary meeting on global peace in honor of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, known as the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit. The plenary adopted a political declaration negotiated by the Member States. In May 2018 the Permanent Representatives of South Africa and Ireland, serving as co-facilitators, began consulting with governments on the content of the declaration. The SDG Knowledge Hub summary of the statements and outcome from this event is here.

Useful Documents

• Is Asia Pacific on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals?:https://www.unescap.org/blog/is-asia-pacific-on-track-to-meet-the-sustainable-development-goals
• The UN HRC's resolution on local government and human rights to emphasize the importance of integrating human rights into UN SDGs at the local level was adopted in Geneva on 27th  September, 2018.
• Secretary-General Appoints Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana as Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific: https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sga1834.doc.htm

• Achieving SDG16: The Implementation Strategy of KOICA – KOICA Briefing Paper- here

• The 12th ODA International Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrsHJogfcMs&feature=youtu.be

• 39th session of the Human Rights Council:https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23518&LangID=E

For your Action

IMF and World Bank Annual Meeting, Bali, Indonesia – October 8-14, 2018

2018 IMF-WBG Annual Meetings || Civil Society Policy Forum

• Civil Society Roundtable with World Bank Group Executive Directors
  • Tuesday, October 9, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
  • Singaraja Room, BNDCC
• CSO Meeting with International Finance Corporation CEO, Philippe Le Houerou
  • Wednesday, October 10, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
  • Medan Room, Bali Westin
• CSO Townhall with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and WBG President Jim Yong Kim, moderated by Monica Tanuhandary (Executive Director of Kemitraan Indonesia)
  • Wednesday, October 10, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
  • Mangupura Hall, Westin - BICC
• Civil Society Networking Reception
  • Wednesday, October 10, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
  • Mangupura Hall, Westin - BICC

Sub regional meetings on the 2030 Agenda – Preparation for the 2019 Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development

• Experts from government agencies responsible for national coordination of SDGs
• Representatives of non-government and private sector organizations
• Regional and sub-regional organizations
• Other stakeholders involved in SDG implementation at national, regional and global levels

UNRISD Conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization, 8-9 November 2018
 

UNRISD is pleased to announce that registration is now open for our 2018 international conference Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization, being held in Geneva, Switzerland on 8-9 November 2018.

Through our extremely well-received Call for Papers  we have been able to put together a collection of cutting-edge panels, each with 5 speakers, covering the key themes in the Call. 

Going beyond simply recognizing inequality as a global problem today, the conference contributions will critically explore the political drivers which have contributed to the immense wealth disparities we witness today, as well as emerging pathways to transformative change and more equitable societies. 

In a unique departure for UN initiatives on inequalities, the UNRISD conference will shine a spotlight on inequality not only as it affects the “bottom of the pyramid”, but also in relation to elite power and all its ramifications.

Have a look at the description of the panels now on our website, and watch this space for the exciting line-up of speakers that we will be able to share with you soon.

Registration is free and can be accessed here.

If you have any questions about the conference, please get in touch with us at
conference dot unrisd at un dot org

Before you book your travel, you may also want to consider attending the top-level panel discussion UNRISD is hosting together with the University of Geneva on 7 November 2018 at 18:30 as the opening of the Conference. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear thought leaders, influencers and advocates for change discuss the growing influence of elite power and the deepening of global inequalities, and what can be done to counteract these trends.  
 
[Open Call]: Register your interest in participating at the Knowledge Exchange Session with 2019 VNR Countries, 17 October 2018, Geneva, Switzerland 

We are proud to announce the next installment in the UNESCAP Stakeholder Engagement Webinar Series, entitled Institutionalizing Engagement for the 2030 Agenda.  The webinar will take place onTuesday, 16 October 2018 at 16:00 Bangkok time.
 
As previously mentioned, UNESCAP is producing this webinar series on stakeholder engagement as part of our wider efforts to help build the capacity of governments in the Asia-Pacific region as to better engage key national stakeholders towards the successful realization of the 2030 Agenda.  More information about this webinar series can be found on UNESCAP's SDG Help Desk here: https://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/webinars.  
 
Please use the link below to register:
 
https://goo.gl/forms/p6aFRi1QQkRNlToB2
 
The link to participate in the webinar will be shared with all who register.  All colleagues, from government, civil society, major groups and other stakeholders, etc. are invited to participate and we encourage colleagues to share the details of this series far and wide.  

The concept note for module 2 of the series is attached to this message.  Please feel free to contact me, Christopher Dekki (dekki@un.org), with any questions or concerns. 
 

International Calendar