ADA Newsletter- July 2019

Dear ADA Members and Friends,
 
Hope you had a very fruitful and super active July 2019.
 
It was indeed an engrossing month for us as well with attendance during the High-Level Political Forum, with 4 side events and many speaking slots. This year we had ADA members from Cambodia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, (on behalf of )Timor Leste, Mongolia presenting CSO statement during their respective VNR sessions who raised their strong voices and concerns about the Voluntary National Review (VNRs) in their respective countries. ADA also successfully launched its First Goal 16 (Global) report, based on the 11 countries case studies, collaborating with its global partners Forus International and Tap Network during HLPF. However, our struggle continues for holding the governments accountable for the SDGs implementation and the promises that they made in September 2015 by eying September 2019, SDG Summit. We encourage all our members and partners to be part of the global #StandTogether campaign by organizing a national mobilization campaign. Please read more about the September campaign in the newsletter and ways to participate as it’s a great initiative to make our voices heard before and around the SDG summit this September.
 
Also, please feel free to give your suggestions on how to improve our communication with you on   ada2030.secretariat@gmail.com
 
In solidarity, 

Jyotsna Mohan
Regional Coordinator-Asia
ADA Secretariat
                         

 Table of Contents

Global Activities.
UN Major Group Meeting.
HLPF Opening, July 9th, 2018.
Launch of “Empowering Civil Society for Reporting and Action on SDG16” Report, Rok Mission, July, 12 
ADA's Engagement in High-Level Political Forum-Full Report
National Activities.
Nepal SDG Forum: Kathmandu, July, 19, 2019.
National Consultation on SDGs and Post HLPF Scenario, Islamabad, July 25, 2019.
Useful Documents. 5
ADA and Members Publications
Empowering Civil Society for National reporting and Action on SDG16.
Forus and ADA National Case Studies on Goal 16.
Cambodia Civil Society Report
Pakistan Citizen's Voice-2019
HLPF summary published.
Quick HLPF survey.
ECOSOC High-Level Segment Statement
MGoS Outcome.
NGO Theme Empowerment
Lessons Learned.
https://actalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ACT_SynthesisReport_CivicSpace_2019_Final_WEB-Copy.pdf
2019 Civil Society Reflection Group’s Spotlight Report
CSO Reports on SDGs in India
The Sustainable Development Goals Report-2019
NGO Major Group Position Paper
Remarks by the President of ECOSOC.
The Shortcomings of SDGs and Possible Solutions
[Together2030] *New resource* Civil society quick guide to engaging in Voluntary National Reviews
Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2019
For your Action
#StandTogetherNow
VNRs Report- 2019
Work Calendar 2019
 

Global Activities

 UN Major Group Meeting

The UN Major group organized the pre HLPF meeting on July, 8, 2019 at UNC -. The major points of discussions were:
 Major group meeting UNC-3, July 8th, 2019
The micro perspective of the FUR.
Slow progress, despite that there is a limited sense of urgency
Over emphasize on communication initiative
Limited analysis of root cause and systemic determination.
Asynchrony local/global discussions.
A significant process of institutionalization at the national level.
Shrinking space for engagement by those primarily affected by development challenges’
to find ways to raise our voices

1. Advocacy activism
2. De-silo the SDGs discussions
3. Expose the systemic drivers within the current economic framework
4. Reclaim decision making policy at the UN level

 Role of major group I reinventing the process and spaces.
Engagement of social group
Much more engagement in the goal mechanism

 HLPF Opening, July 9th, 2018

ECOSOC President Inga Rhonda King opened HLPF 2019
on Tuesday, 9 July, and invited Member States to adopt the provisional agenda (E/HLPF/2019/1). In her opening remarks, King said the 2019 HLPF session has a special importance because:
• it is the last meeting in the HLPF’s first cycle, marking the conclusion of the first review of all 17 SDGs, discussion on four themes, and presentation of 142 VNRs;
• it will send messages to the HLPF under the auspices of UNGA (SDG Summit) in September 2019;
• it will initiate discussions on the performance of the HLPF in the past four years, and changes needed; and
• it will reflect on collective progress in SDG implementation globally, regionally, nationally, and locally.
Valentin Rybakov, ECOSOC Vice-President, presented key
messages from the ECOSOC Integration Segment held on 8 July, noting that the VNR process was useful for engaging stakeholders and spurring SDG integration in national development plans.

 ( 460 Park Ave 9th Fl, New York, NY 10022, USA) from 9:30am until 12:30pm on Friday July 12th’
With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the focus of the international community turned to ensure robust monitoring and accountability for these commitments at all levels – including the global, regional, and national levels. While global processes around the 2030 Agenda to date have seen unprecedented levels of engagement by civil society, a significant gap still remains in overall awareness and action from states and other stakeholders on the SDGs. This is particularly true at the national level, where action and follow-up by civil society with their governments will be most critical, particularly in regard to SDG16 on peaceful, just, and inclusive Societies. To support accountability for the 2030 Agenda, civil society can also play a key role by producing SDG “spotlight reports” and taking the lead on other monitoring efforts, which can be an important tool for highlighting progress towards the SDGs through the perspectives of civil society and citizens themselves.
 
ADA's Engagement in High-Level Political Forum-Full Report 
 

 National Activities

 A discussion meeting with the member organizations of Nepal SDGs Forum was conducted successfully on July 18 in Kathmandu. There were 100 plus participants in the meeting from various organizations that work in different sectors. The participants from the member organizations of the Forum shared the updates on SDGs, the progress they have made so far and identified the gaps among the stakeholders to meet the targets and indicators on SDGs.
The CSOs representatives suggested that this is the time to advocate for the localization of SDGs in all 753 local councils. They also urged all the CSOs to act as the watchdog and support the government in achieving the Global Goals by 2030.
Details here

The conference was jointly organized by PCHR, Awaz /CDS, Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs and VSO and attended by the representatives of civil society from across Pakistan. They gathered at Islamabad for a post-HLPF national conference on VNR and SDGs, to congratulate the Government of Pakistan, for presenting VNR report during the High-Level Political Forum held under the aegis of United Nations from July 9-18, 2019. The workshop deliberated the role of Parliament as the most instrumental institution for effective implementation of SDGs Agenda 2030 as emphasized by Parliament is the most instrumental institution for effective implementation of SDGs Agenda 2030 Mr. Chaudhry Muhammad Shafique, Executive Director Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights on the Post High Level Political Forum (HLPF) National Conference on Voluntary National Review (VNR) of Sustainable Development Goals held on 25th July, 2019.
 
Mr. Zia ur Rehman, Chief Executive AwazCDS-Pakistan and National Convener, Pakistan Development Alliance said that government needs to revisit the national priority indicators considering the emerging needs of the nation. He further stressed for creation of Pakistan SDGs Support Fund for localization of SDGs. He demanded that local governments should be empowered and facilitated for the appropriate realization of SDGs in Pakistan.
 
This Post HLPF National Conference was attended by Parliamentarians, representatives from SDGs Unit Planning Commission of Pakistan, CSOs, media, academia, economists, People Living with Disabilities (PWDs), child protection institutions, young people organizations, religious minorities, transgender communities and private sector.
  Full report here
 

Useful Documents

Empowering Civil Society for National reporting and Action on SDG16 

Forus and ADA National Case Studies on Goal 16 

Cambodia Civil Society Report 

Pakistan Citizen's Voice-2019 

https://actalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ACT_SynthesisReport_CivicSpace_2019_Final_WEB-Copy.pdf 
If you want a summary of the key findings please see the policy brief attached or the download under:
https://www.heks.ch/sites/default/files/documents/2019-07/ACT_CivicSpace_Brief_2019_Final_PROOF2.pdf
 
2019 Civil Society Reflection Group’s Spotlight Report  
“Democratic global governance: if it doesn’t challenge power it isn’t democratic” By Barbara Adams. A chapter from the 2019 Spotlight Report
“In the 2017 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development: Civil Society plays key role in voluntary national reviews and coherence” By Sarah Dayringer, Global Policy Watch
On the SDG Indicators and Data
“The Ups and Downs of Tiers: Measuring SDG Progress” By Barbara Adams and Karen Judd, Global Policy Watch
“Who influences whom in the policy arena? Statisticians seek greater voice” By Barbara Adams and Karen Judd, Global Policy Watch
“Measuring the SDGs: Who controls the process, who owns the results?” By Barbara Adams and Karen Judd
“'You say you want a [data] Revolution': A proposal to use unofficial statistics for the SDG Global Indicator Framework” Guest working paper by authors Steve MacFeely and Bojan Nastav
“UN SDG progress reports: how statistics play favorites” By Roberto Bissio, Social Watch
CSO Reports on SDGs in India 
The Sustainable Development Goals Report-2019 
 
NGO Major Group Position Paper 
 
Remarks by the President of ECOSOC 
 
The Shortcomings of SDGs and Possible Solutions  
 
 
 [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)

 For your Action

#StandTogetherNow

VNRs Report- 2019

• Cambodia - 2019 VNR Report [English]
•  Indonesia - 2019 VNR Report [English]
• Kazakhstan - 2019 VNR Report [Russian]
• Mongolia - 2019 VNR Report [English]
• Pakistan - 2019 VNR Report [English]
• Philippines - 2019 VNR Report [English]
• Timor-Leste - 2019 VNR Report [English]
• Turkmenistan - 2019 VNR Report [Russian]

 
HLPF Concludes and Preparations for the SDG summit
Interventions
If you had an opportunity to make an intervention during the official sessions of the HLPF, please continue to send the written statements to tomos.roberts-harry@un.org . The statements will be placed on the webpages relevant to the sessions. For example, Science Policy Interface – 11 July 2019.
 
UN Web TV
You can re-watch the official sessions of the HLPF on Sustainable Development on UN Web TV. The link provided includes the search terms "2019 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF 2019)" but feel free t