ADA Newsletter- January-February, 2019
Dear ADA members and Friends,
Happy and Prosperous New Year, 2019
Here we present our first edition of Newsletter for the months of January and February 2019. This year becomes all the more crucial for the Civil society and all the stakeholders who have been actively engaged in Agenda 2030. The year marks the fourth year of Sustainable Development goals implementation and review of High-Level Political Forum during the UN General assembly, this September. The CSOs all over the globe hence gearing up to provide powerful suggestions to the HLPF reforms and hope to see more positive and engaged participation during Voluntary National review process in the next cycle of HLPF.
Also, this year, 13 countries from Asia and Pacific gear up VNR during the High-level Political Forum, with five SDGs (4, 8, 11, 13, 16 and 17) are up for review. This year also becomes important because of goal 16 review, especially looking at regressive and shrinking spaces for the civil society, it becomes all the important to see the government-CSOs engagement in the VNR apart from within the larger framework of accountability and monitoring mechanism from some of these countries.
ADA has already planned its activities in advance and organized its first capacity building meeting in December 2018 in Almaty, Kazakhstan having five countries from Central Asia in its efforts to mainstream the Central Asian civil society process in Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals, with two countries, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan presenting VNR, 2019. ADA has also co-hosted few sessions during PyeongChang Global peace Forum early February and Ulaanbaatar democracy Forum in Mongolia later in February 2019, highlighting and linking Goal 16 with Peace and Human Rights in its efforts to create a common platform for CSOs across various interests.
Please stay tuned to know more about our proposed activities for 2019
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
PyeongChang Global Peace Forum (PGPF) - PyeongChang, Korea, 9-11 Feb. 2019
Ulaanbaatar Democracy Forum – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 26-28 February 2019
ADA -FORUS-TAP workshop on Goal 16 Spotlight Report, March 1st, Ulaanbaatar
Regional Activities.
ADA Steering Committee Meeting, February, 28th, Ulaanbaatar
National Activities
Gl-ocal Advocacy Leadership Academy- Mongolia.
Useful Documents.
2017 CSO Sustainability Index Asia report entitled: Sustainability of the Philippine CSO sector declined in 2017. http://code-ngo.org/2019/03/phcsosireport2017/.
CODE-NGO Annual Report 2018 http://code-ngo.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2018-CODE-NGO-Annual-Report-.pdf
The Shortcomings of SDGs and Possible Solutions
[Together2030] *New resource* Civil society quick guide to engaging in Voluntary National Reviews
Forus Toolkit here.
For your Action.
APFSD 2019 and the People’s Forum, March (24-26) 2019, Bangkok.
APFSD 2019, March (27-29) 2019, Bangkok.
GALA Mekong: ADA with FORUS, TAP Network, KOICA with the local host, Cooperation Committee of Cambodia, March 19-22, Phnom Penh
ADA Side Event with ARRCEM and UNDP, UNCC –Meeting Room C-D, Tuesday, March 28, 2019.
Inclusive Participation as Key Driver and Accelerator of SDG 16 and SDG 10: CSO Best Practices and Lessons in Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality towards the achievement of the SDGs.
High-level Political Forum, 2019.
THEMATIC SDG REVIEWS.
REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETINGS.
WORKSHOPS.
Work Calendar 2019.
ADA and Members Activities
Global Activities
PyeongChang Global Peace Forum (PGPF) - PyeongChang, Korea, 9-11 Feb. 2019
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics opened the door of opportunity for a face-to-face encounter leading to the peace talks on all levels including the summits between the political leaders of South and North Korea as well as the United States of America. Therefore, it is not without exaggeration that PyeongChang is considered the birthplace of the current historical peace-making process in the Korean peninsula.
The PyeongChang Global Peace Forum (PGPF) held on 9 to 11 February 2019 in PyeongChang, South Korea to review and celebrate the yearlong peace process on the Korean peninsula and beyond. This occasion was also marked as an opportunity to gather like-minded peace advocates from all over the globe to discuss on working together to maintain and expand this historic momentum of peacebuilding beyond the Korean peninsula through developing a comprehensive common action agenda for peacekeeping alive the “PyeongChang Peace Spirit.”
Agenda for Peace and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The preamble of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development- There can be no sustainable development without peace, and no peace without sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has posed both opportunities and challenges for people, civil society organizations as well as government. It was in this backdrop that the civil society gathered to develop agenda and strategies on linking and integrating peace agenda into the SDGs for mutual support and synergy.
The main goal of the PGPF 2019 was to discuss and adopt the draft Framework for PyeongChang Agenda for Peace (PCAP) 2030. The Framework outlined the current glocal (global and local) crises and diagnostics as well as the agenda and actions needed for peacebuilding in the next 10 years of 2020-2030. The Framework would serve as an invitation to a larger audience, all peacemakers of the world, to engage in reviewing and contributing to the framework. After a one-year-long process, we will meet again in 2020 in PyeongChang to adopt and announce formally the PyeongChang Agenda for Peace (PCAP) 2030.
Over 100 participants from over 32 countries attended this important forum and ADA along with its members also co-organised a couple of side events during these three days evens.
The workshop was women around the following themes:
- Peace and Disarmament
- Peace poverty and SDGs
- Peace, Economy, ecology, and sport
- Peace and Human Rights
- Peace Governance in Korean Peninsula, East Asia, and the UN
- Interfaith cooperation and Peace
One of the important highlights of the three days event was a tour to Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and DMZ museum between North and South Korea where the participants got to understand the reasons of war that led to the division of the country 70 years ago and the subsequent peace process started in last one year. This peace process may also lead the example in Asia and the globe.
http://www.pgpf.kr/portal/E10000/E10300/html
Ulaanbaatar Democracy Forum – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 26-28 February, 2019
Asia Development Alliance (ADA) along with Asia Democracy network (AND), Communities of Democracy (CoD), Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Alliance for Reporting Progress on Peaceful Justice and Inclusive Societies organised the Ulaanbaatar democracy forum from 26 to 28 February 2019 at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, under the theme “Promoting Peace, Human Rights and Democracy through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16+ - Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies in Asia and beyond.” The SDG 16+ indicates that SDG 16 is a stand-alone goal itself but need to be implemented as an integral part of the SDGs in connection with other goals in particular cross-cutting goals.
 The main objectives of the UBDF 2019 are i) to review and share good practices of Asian governments and CSOs’ engaged in implementation and monitoring of the SDGs in particular the goal 16+, ii) to strengthen collaboration and partnerships among multi- stake holders such as the government, international organizations, public institutions, CSOs, private business, etc. on goal 16+, iii) to develop an action plan in preparation for the UN Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (Bangkok, 27-29 March), UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) (9-15 July) and SDGs Summit during the UN General Assembly (24-25 Sept.) with focuses on goal 16+.
The three days’ workshop deliberated the issues of implementation, monitoring and review mechanism of agenda 2030 by the UNESCAP, UNDP, members states and civil society organizations. The workshop also discussed linking human rights with peace, gender, environment and various thematic issues apart from the issue of shrinking and expanding spaces of the civil society. One of the important deliberations was on integrate sustaining peace in the implementation of the SDGs through an international peace agenda such as the UN SG’s Agenda for Disarmament and PCAP 2030
The forum was attended by over 100 participants from over 16 countries all over the world.
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Mongolia, Chung Jae-nam gave the opening remarks, and H.E. Mr. Damdin Tsogtbaatar graced the meeting with his welcome remarks.
ADA -FORUS-TAP workshop on Goal 16 Spotlight Report, March 1st, Ulaanbaatar
ADA in partnership with FORUS and TAP network is proposing Goal 16 global report ahead of the High-level Political Forum. This meeting aimed at discussing the proposed methodology for this study by getting inputs not only from the representatives of these organizations but also from the proposed countries and authors who will be involved in writing the country report,
Regional Activities
ADA Steering Committee Meeting, February, 28th, Ulaanbaatar
ADA organized its first face to face steering committee meeting of the year on 28th February 2019 at Ulaanbaatar. The meeting deliberated the governance, accountability, outreach and advocacy concerns for the year. ADA annual report apart from its financial reports and proposed activities was also discussed during the meeting. One important output of the meeting was the decision to approve its first member from Central Asian, national NGO Platform (ARGO, Kazakhstan). ADA warmly welcomes ARGO as its members!
Office Bearers for ADA 2019
| Position |
Name |
NGO |
Sub-region |
| Co-Conveners |
Mr Jit Ram Lama |
NFN |
South Asia |
| Mr Saroeun Soeung (Focal Point) |
CCC |
South East Asia |
| Mr Hideki Wakabayashi |
JANIC |
North East Asia |
| Steering Committee Members |
Primary Member |
Alternate Member |
Organization |
Sub-region |
| Mr Jit Ram Lama |
Ms Bhawana Bhatta |
NFN |
South Asia |
| Mr Zia Ur Rahman |
Ms Maryam Amjad |
PDA |
| Mr Saroeun Soeung |
Ms El Sotheary |
CCC |
South Asia |
| Mr Mugiyanto |
|
INFID |
| Mr Hideki Wakabayashi |
Mr Aoi Horiuchi |
JANIC |
North East Asia |
| Mr Daeshik Jo |
Ms Minyoung KIM |
KCOC |
| Senior Adviser |
Mr Harsh Jaitli, India
Mr Anselmo Lee, Korea |
| Secretariat |
Dr. Jyotsna Mohan, Regional Coordinator, Asia
Ms Yaerum Jung, Program Coordinator, Seoul Office |
National Activities
Gl-ocal Advocacy Leadership Academy- Mongolia
ADA organized its first GALA of the year in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on 24-25 February 2019. Over 30 participants from rural and urban Mongolia participated in two days training program highlighting Goal 16 and linking the SDGs with human rights. The training program also had an important session on the role of national CSO coalition in SDGs monitoring, review and implementation mechanism apart from assisting Mongolian CSOs in VNR, 2019.
Incidentally, Mongolia has a history of working on human rights and democracy which was included in SDGs 16. Earlier, in 2005, Mongolia became the first country to formulate a ninth MDG on human rights, democratic governance, and anti-corruption in addition to the globally recognized eight MDGs, and thereby emphasize the role of democratic governance in successfully achieving the MDGs and other socio-economic development goals.
The 2 days training also concluded that climate change is the main issue apart from mining operation within the country. The participants also learned linking SDGs with the human rights.. it was also found that there has been no official translation of the UN agenda 2030 except that the UNDP has done, however, there is a need t figure out on the wordings. Another important fact is that Mongolia is one of those few denuclearised country in the northeastern region. Regarding SDGs, the local communities are not involved in the decision-making process, and hence there is a need to promote the SDGs not only with the state departments but a lot with the local communities.
Useful Documents
2017 CSO Sustainability Index Asia report entitled: Sustainability of the Philippine CSO sector declined in 2017. http://code-ngo.org/2019/03/phcsosireport2017/.
You may also find the copy of 2017 CSOSI Report in the link above. CODE-NGO produced the chapter on the Philippines in this report and this was produced by USAID.
CODE-NGO Annual Report 2018 http://code-ngo.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2018-CODE-NGO-Annual-Report-.pdf
Partners for Review (P4R) recently published a number of publications related to VNR and SDG implementation.
All publications can be accessed at: http://www.partners-for-review.de/resources/.
Voluntary National Reviews submitted to the 2018 High-level Political Forum – a Comparative Analysis
[Together2030] *New resource* Civil society quick guide to engaging in Voluntary National Reviews
Download Voluntary National Reviews Engaging in national implementation and review of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals – a quick guide for civil society (PDF 1.6Mb)
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
APFSD 2019 and the People’s Forum, March (24-26) 2019, Bangkok
- The Asia-Pacific People’s Forum on Sustainable Development: 24 – 26 March 2019 in Bangkok - The Asia-Pacific People’s Forum on Sustainable Development (APPFSD) will be organized by civil society (Asia-Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (AP-RCEM) http://asiapacificrcem.org , in collaboration with the ESCAP as a preparatory meeting for the APFSD.
APFSD 2019, March (27-29) 2019, Bangkok
- The Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD 2019): 27 – 29 March 2019 at the United Nations Conference Centre Bangkok
VNR Countries from Asia -2019
- Indonesia
- Kazakhstan
- Turkmenistan
- Philippines
- Pakistan
- Mongolia
- Timor Leste
- Cambodia
GALA Mekong: ADA with FORUS, TAP Network, KOICA with the local host, Cooperation Committee of Cambodia, March 19-22, Phnom Penh
ADA Side Event with ARRCEM and UNDP, UNCC –Meeting Room C-D, Tuesday, March 28, 2019
Inclusive Participation as Key Driver and Accelerator of SDG 16 and SDG 10 : CSO Best Practices and Lessons in Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality towards achievement of the SDGs
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
Coming Soon
REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION
Coming Soon
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.
THEMATIC SDG REVIEWS
Thematic reviews of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including cross-cutting issues and interlinkages, are an essential part of the annual session of the High-level Political Forum under the auspices of the ECOSOC.
As well as providing an update on where we stand in terms of progress on individual SDGs, thematic reviews offer critical insights into the implementation of the SDGs, while facilitating peer learning, exchange of experiences, identifying lessons learned as well as gaps.
These thematic reviews will benefit from reviews by the ECOSOC functional commissions and other intergovernmental bodies and forums.
In addition, DESA in collaboration with relevant UN-system entities and other partners will organize preparatory events such as Expert Group Meetings on the SDGs under review. The outcomes of these preparatory events will serve to inform the HLPF's deliberations.
Calendar of preparatory thematic events for 2019 HLPF under ECOSOC
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 4: 3-5 December 2018, Brussels
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 8: tbc
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 10: tbc
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 13: 4-6 March 2019, Copenhagen
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 16: tbc
Expert Group Meeting on SDG 17: tbc
Expert Group Meeting on interlinkages: tbc
REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETINGS
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE): 21 – 22 March 2019, Geneva, Switzerland
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP): 27 – 29 March 2019, Bangkok, Thailand
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA): 16 – 18 April 2019, Beirut, Lebanon
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): 22- 26 April 2019, Santiago de Chile, Chile
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA): April 2019 (Date and venue tbc)
WORKSHOPS
Work Calendar 2019
| Dates / Venue |
International Meetings |
| Jan. 25 |
ADA SC-1 |
| Feb. 9-11, Pyeongchang, Korea |
Pyeongchang Global Peace Forum (PGPF) |
| Feb. 24-25, UB |
GALA Mongolia |
| Mar. 1 |
ADA Steering Committee (SC) |
| Mar. 8, Geneva |
Side-event on Human Rights at the local level during the UN HRC |
| Mar. 19-22, Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
GALA-Mekong+ |
| Mar. 24-26,Bangkok |
APRCEM |
| Mar. 27-29, Bangkok |
APFSD |
| 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 |
| 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. 14-16 or 21-23 Kathmandu, Nepal |
Kathmandu Democracy Forum (KMDF) |
| 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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