ADA Newsletter- April 2019
Dear ADA Members and Friends,
We are so pleased to present our April Newsletter to you. The Civil society has been prepping themselves this year for the high-level political forum as it completes its first cycle this July 2019. The CSO’s in Asia made their presence felt during the Asia -Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development Goals (APFSD) last month. The SDGs found a good mention and discussion during C 20 Tokyo , not only by the Civil society globally , but by the government of Japan and how this is an important tool to engage with multi-stakeholder platforms for the cause of development and not to miss, linking human rights with the development were also discussed and acknowledged widely. Earlier, CIVICUS also organized it International Civil Society Week in Belgrade, Serbia, where enabling environment for the CSOs were discussed in a one-day civil society summit and how SDGs could be used as a tool to address the issue of shrinking spaces for the civil society.
The month of May is yet going to be another crucial month when the UN DESA organizes Goal 16 conference in Rome. Goal 16 has been much debated and the CSO including ADA is advocating to institutionalize this for the purpose of review every year, just like Goal 17, since most of the member states are reluctant to address this particular goal, for apparent reasons.
Please stay tuned to know more about our activities and programs in May and the rest of the year.
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.
Global Activities.
International Civil society week : Belgrade . Serbia, April 8 to 11, 2019.
C 20, Tokyo – Toyo, Japan, April 21 to 23 , 2019.
Tokyo Democracy Forum- "Promoting Peace, Human Rights and Democratic Governance through the SDG 16+"
ADA Steering Committee Meeting – Tokyo, Japan, May 21, 2019. 4
Useful Documents.
ADA Statement on Sri Lanka Series Bomb blast
C 20 Strategy for India's Civil society.
2017 CSO Sustainability Index Asia report entitled: Sustainability of the Philippine CSO sector declined in 2017. http://code-ngo.org/2019/03/phcsosireport2017/.
The Shortcomings of SDGs and Possible Solutions
[Together2030] *New resource* Civil society quick guide to engaging in Voluntary National Reviews 5
Forus Toolkit here.
For your Action.
Conference in preparation for HLPF 2019: “Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies: SDG 16 implementation and the path towards leaving no one behind”
High-level Political Forum, 2019
Work Calendar 2019
ADA and Members Activities
Global Activities
International Civil society week: Belgrade. Serbia, April 8 to 11, 2019
 CIVICUS organized its International Civil society week in Belgrade, Serbia from April 8 to April 11, 2019, co-hosted by CIVICUS and Serbian association Civic Initiatives, with the support of the Balkans Civil Society Development Network.
This year’s theme was “The Power of Togetherness”, set out to explore how people and organizations around the world can, and are, working together to enable and defend spaces for civic action in a world where global transformations are reshaping how civil society functions. After a week of robust discussions, engaging and interactive sessions and a closing action that saw more than 200 civil society leaders and human rights activists from some 100 countries taking to the streets of Serbia in solidarity with those whose basic freedoms are at risk.
The CSOs also launched the Belgrade Call to Action pressing governments and members states of the United Nations to act upon the deteriorating conditions for civil society. The 5 days event also launched the Freedom Runner Campaign, where Girls Rock Camp performed and Yetnebersh Nigussie, lawyer and human rights advocate delivered a keynote address.
ADA as a regional CSO platform participated along with its members from Asian countries as a member of AGNA and governing board member of Innovation for Change (I4C).
C 20, Tokyo – Toyo, Japan, April 21 to 23, 2019
Tokyo Democracy Forum- "Promoting Peace, Human Rights, and Democratic Governance through the SDG 16+"
The first day of C20 summit was organized by the Asia Development Alliance (ADA) Asia Democracy Network (ADN), with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES). The main concern raised during this full-day event was around the issues of growing inequality, humanitarian crisis and violation of fundamental human rights threaten the international community. As conditions and space for civil society to find solutions to these challenges remain restricted, protecting human rights and the freedom of civil society are crucial. To achieve the SDG 16 focusing on Peace, Human Rights and Democratic Governance the civil society and the world leaders of the G20 must solve global challenges together. The Tokyo Democracy Forum reviewed and discuss these challenges within SDG 16 and adopt the Declaration of Tokyo Democracy Forum.
C20 Policy Pack and CSO's Declaration
The Civil society leaders from 40 countries for C20 summit including the TDF was organized by the C20 Steering Committee.
"More than 830 participants in total from 40 countries all over the world" participated in the three das august gathering Tokyo on from 21 to 23 April, with calls that, amid violence and legal restrictions on them globally, such organizations’ voices should not be excluded from the Group of 20 leaders’ summit set to be hosted by Osaka this year.
“There are increased worries that space for civil society to operate in is shrinking, especially in Asia,” said Yuka Iwatsuki, the chair of Civil 20, one of several groups that advise G20 leaders on a broad range of international social and economic issues.
The Japanese government’s decision to make issues related to the digital economy a priority has also forced civil society organizations to consider how that would affect their own areas of expertise.
Other discussions during the C20 summit have focused on transparency and anti-corruption measures, how to crack down on corporations that hide their money in tax havens and environmental issues — such as the need for more G20 cooperation and funding to deal with cleaning up plastic waste in the world’s oceans.
In addition, participants emphasized the importance of the G20 leaders promoting so-called “quality infrastructure” — a somewhat vague term that can be used to refer to high levels of financial transparency and accountability for both the donors and recipients before international funding is poured into major civil engineering projects in lesser developed countries.
This year’s C20 took place less than five months after the conclusion of the 2018 G20 leaders’ summit in Buenos Aires.
ADA Steering Committee Meeting – Tokyo, Japan, May 21, 2019
 ADA organized its 3rd face to face Steering committee meeting of the year in Tokyo on the sidelines of C 20. The Steering committee decided on revamping and re0structuring ADA membership with better outreach services and deciding on robust membership services for the ADA members. One of the important highlights of engaging with the members and getting them connected with ADA was the formation of 6 working groups. These the followings:
- WG on SDG 16
- WG on Capacity-building (Target 17.9) and Global Citizenship (Target 4.7)
- WG on Localizing SDGs (Goal 11 and Para. 79 of 2010 Agenda)
- WG on Business and Human Rights (Target 17.17 and Para. 67 of 2030 Agenda)
- WG on Peace and SDGs (SDG 16+)
The ADA members will be invited to be part of these working groups based on their interest and thematic areas of interest and they will be invited for training/workshops /conferences related to these areas to provide their inputs and suggestions and further being part of research papers for advocacy point of views.
There was also a discussion on ADA’s sustainability now, looking at its serious engagement and roles with members/partners/stakeholders at national, regional and global levels.
We seek your help and guidance to support us in outreach and advocacy issues so please contact the ADA secretariat at, should you want to input to our work – ada2030.secretariat@gmail.com
Useful Documents
- 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
Conference in preparation for HLPF 2019: “Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies: SDG 16 implementation and the path towards leaving no one behind”
Details here
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 16. Promote 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
Information Note for Participants
REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION
Registration is now open for the 2019 HLPF! Deadline 15 June 2019 at 11:59pm. Please click here to register.
HELP
VOLUNTARY NATIONAL REVIEWS
The voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aim to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and 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.
PROGRAMME
Draft programme for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the High-level Segment of ECOSOC 2019
Work Calendar 2019
| Dates / Venue |
International Meetings |
| April. 21, Tokyo |
Tokyo Democracy Forum (TDF) |
| April 21-23, Tokyo |
C20 |
| May 2-4, Bonn, Germany |
Global Festival of Actions by UN SDGs Action Campaign |
| May 16-18, Gwangu |
Gwangju Asia Forum |
| May 27-29 |
SDG 16 Conference, Rome |
| June 17-19, Bangkok |
ACSC/APF |
| July 9-15 , New York |
UN HLPF – SDG 4, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17 |
| July 11-12 |
PyeongChang Agenda for Peace (PCAP) 2030 Consultation |
| July 12, Friday, New York |
CSO Reception at the RoK Mission |
| July 16-18, New York |
HLPF VNR – Cambodia, Mongolia, Timor Leste, Pakistan,
Kazhastan, Turkmenistan
The Philippines, Indonesia (2nd) |
| Aug. |
|
| Sept. 21-26, |
Global Week of Action on Peace and SDGs |
| Sept. 21 |
UN Day of Peace |
| Sept 23 New York |
UN Climate Summit |
| Sept. 24-25, New York |
UN SDGs Summit |
| Sept. 26-28, New York |
AAAA+4 for Financing for Development Review |
| Oct. 2-4, Gwangju, Korea |
World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) |
| Oct. 14-16, Busan, Korea |
Busan Democracy Forum (BuDF) |
| Oct. Korea |
Korea-ASEAN Civil Society Forum |
| Nov. 25-27, Geneva |
UN Global Forum on Business and Human Rights (BHR) |
| Dec. |
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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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