ADA Newsletter- January 2020

Dear ADA Members and Friends,
Wishing you all a Happy 2020 and a great Decade of Action!!
Hope you all had a great vacation to reenergise and strategies for 2020, since most of us have already started preparations for our national and regional forum in Asia. This year Armenia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Georgia, India, Kyrgyzstan, Micronesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Uzbekistan present their VNR from Asia and Pacific. And second time for the few , like India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Armenia,  and it will be interesting to see how these countries have learned the lesson from their past experience and if they have something new , unique and positive to take forward and present in July 2020, HLPF. The CSO’s too are also being proactively engaged in the process, and quite prepared to review the SDGs implementation in 2020. So quite an exciting time ahead for all of us.
Please look for this space to hear more exciting stories and glance through the events organised and feel free share any news/ updates should you wish them published in our monthly newsletter apart from giving your suggestions on how to improve our communication with you at   ada2030.secretariat@gmail.com
 
In Solidarity, 

Jyotsna Mohan
Regional Coordinator-Asia
ADA Secretariat
 

Table of Contents

SDG 16 Forum and National civil society conference in Kathmandu on 31 January-1 February 2020.
Nepal SDG Forum Expedite VNR Process
Webinar- Civil Society Reporting for the HLPF 2020: Reflections & Preparing National Reports- APSD, ADA and A4SD, - January 21, 2020
Worth a Read!!!
A small Spark of hope for bipartisan cooperation in SDGs
2018 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUSTAINABILITY INDEX
Strengthening the mobilization of private and sub national domestic investments in srilanka for 2030 agenda transformation fund
Global Indicator Framework on SDGs: update and CSO perspectives
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019
Asia and the Pacific Progress Report 2019
Empowering Civil Society for National reporting and Action on SDG16
Forus and ADA National Case Studies on Goal 16
Action Please!!!
APFSD 2020 _ Exhibition – Deadline 21 February, 2020
ECOSOC 2019-2020 & HLPF 2020 Theme: (07 July – 14 July, 2020)
2nd South Asia Regional Institute on the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action 20-26 April 2020, Kathmandu, Nepal
Work Calendar 2020
 

SDG 16 Forum and National civil society conference in Kathmandu on 31 January-1 February 2020.

NGO Federation of Nepal organized ASF16 Forum on 31st January  to discuss linking peace and SDG 16  especially through sharing the of Positive and negative peace by Mr. Charlie Allen from Institute of Economics and Peace and later the issue of institutionalizing SDG 16 by the regional coordinator, ADA, Dr. Jyotsna Mohan. Mr. JitRam Lama, NFN president shared the preparation of Nepalese CSO’s on Nepal’s preparation for VNR 2020 in the leadership of NFN . 
Later on February, 1, 2020, NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN) held the national civil society conference in Kathmandu on 01 February 2020. About 500 civil society activists and CSO representatives from all the seven provinces and 77 districts participated in the Conference.
Guests and CSO representatives expressed their views and concerns in various areas of development, human rights, civil society, and governance among others in the inaugural session which was followed by three parallel thematic sessions on 1) CSO enabling environment: Policy, rights and operational concerns, 2) Disaster risk management and climate change, and 3) SDG 16 Plus Forum: Localization and VNR.

Please refer to the link to see the detailed report

Nepal SDG Forum Expedite VNR Process 

Webinar- Civil Society Reporting for the HLPF 2020: Reflections & Preparing National Reports- APSD, ADA and A4SD, - January 21, 2020

Asia Civil Society Partnership on Sustainable Development (APSD) in coordination with ADA and A4SD organized its first VNR for 2020 with the civil society partners. Its been observed that despite the focus on ‘Leave no One Behind’, the real target population are yet to be benefitted . There is also a greater need of CSO’s engagement in the whole process of SDGs implementation as we are already into the 5th year of SDGs implementation hence there is a need to accelerate the decade of action. There were some country’s presentations from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Kazakhstan on last VNRs experiences and also , a need to better the process through starting the VNR process at the sub national levels, engaging the parliamentarians and national statistics office, and CSOs should seek to be included in the official delegation at the HLPF and allocation of speaking opportunity during the official presentation. Finally , there were discussions on the People’s scorecard, and how, the CSOs can assess the mainstreaming and integration of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs across national policies and implementation, with focus on the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, environmental and economic and if ‘whole of government approach has been carried out’. Many countries showed interest to be part of People’s score card to assess the SDGs progress at national level and accelerate the better government-CSO engagement level. 
 

Worth a Read!!!

A small Spark of hope for bipartisan cooperation in SDGs 

2018 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION SUSTAINABILITY INDEX 

Strengthening the mobilization of private and sub national domestic investments in srilanka for 2030 agenda transformation fund 

Global Indicator Framework on SDGs: update and CSO perspectives 

The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019 

Asia and the Pacific Progress Report 2019 

Empowering Civil Society for National reporting and Action on SDG16 

Forus and ADA National Case Studies on Goal 16 

 Action Please!!!

APFSD 2020 _ Exhibition – Deadline 21 February, 2020

 
the call for exhibition for the 7th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (25-27 March 2020) is open.
Please fill out the online form by the deadline (21/02/2020) to confirm your presence.
 
[Opportunity] - Nominate Potential Participants - Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) implementation workshop - Jamaica, 17-19 March (TBC
Please see the information below sent by DESA regarding the “Global Sustainable Development Report implementation workshop – Latin America and the Caribbean”, which will be held in Jamaica, 17-19 March 2020 (dates to be confirmed). 

DESA might be able to invite up to 3 MGoS representatives (out of the 18 MGoS groups) to attend the workshop. Should anyone be interested, please email me separately (espadav@gmail.com) providing the requested information by DESA by 13 February, COB.

Warmly,
Victoria



Dear MGoS Steering Group,
 
We would like to check your interest in nominating potential MGoS experts to attend the “Global Sustainable Development Report implementation workshop – Latin America and the Caribbean”, which will be held in Jamaica, 17-19 March 2020 (dates to be confirmed). The concept note is attached for easier reference.
 
The workshop is being organized by DESA/DSDG together with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the University of the West Indies. The focus will be on the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region and on building capacity among policy makers to bring the lessons of the GSDR to life in their national contexts. The workshop aims to explore in concrete terms how to translate the findings and calls to action from the GSDR into guidance for policy makers and other stakeholders at the country level. In particular, the meeting will concentrate on three of the entry points: sustainable and just economies, sustainable urban and peri-urban development, and the global environmental commons.
 
Sessions will also highlight the tools or levers that the Report identifies—governance, economy and finance, science and technology, and individual and collective behaviour. Among these levers, the meeting will explore in depth the specific role that science and technology can play, especially within the three entry point areas of focus, to accelerate progress in sustainable development in the region. The outcomes of the workshop are also expected to be used as inputs to the 2020 HLPF.
 
We would like to check if the Steering Group would be interested in nominating a few colleagues from Latin America and the Caribbean that could be invited to attend the workshop. We might be able to support up to three MGoS representatives so, if the Steering Group could provide us with a list of 6-8 names, in order of priority, as this would allow us to maximize the available funding.
 
We would need the following information from each participant:
 

• Last name
• First Name
• E-mail
• Phone
• Gender
• Country of Residence
• Nationality
• Organization
• Short bio (150 words)
• MGoS constituency
• Working Language (English/Spanish or both)
• Need of assistance (for PwD)

 
[Opportunity - 2] - Nominate Potential Participants - Second Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Please see the information below sent by DESA regarding the Second Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which will be held on 2-3April 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland.



DESA might be able to invite up to 3 MGoS representatives (out of the 18 MGoS groups) from developing countries to attend this global event. Should anyone be interested, please email me separately (espadav@gmail.com) providing the requested information by DESA by 14 February, COB.

Warmly,
Victoria
 
 
Dear MGoS Steering Group,
 
We have yet another opportunity for nomination of MGoS representatives to a global event: the Second Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which will be held on 2-3April 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland. The event is being organized by UN DESA and UN Climate Change (UNFCCC secretariat), in partnership with the European Union and in collaboration with other partners. The concept note and save the date is attached for easier reference.
 
We would like to check if the Steering Group would be interested in nominating a few colleagues from developing countries that could be considered for funded participation. We might be able to support up to three MGoS representatives so, if the Steering Group could provide us with a list of 6-8 names, in order of priority, this would allow us to maximize the available funding.
 
We would need the following information from each participant:
 

• Last name
• First Name
• E-mail
• Phone
• Gender
• Country of Residence
• Nationality
• Organization
• Short bio (150 words)
• MGoS constituency
• Need of assistance (for PwD)

 
If the Steering Group identifies self-funded MGoS representatives that would be interested in attending the event, please, do also send us the names and we will flag them to the colleagues organizing the event. We will also be informing you once pre-registration opens.
 

ECOSOC 2019-2020 & HLPF 2020 Theme: (07 July – 14 July, 2020)

‘Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development’.
2020 HLPF Website:
The website for the 2020 HLPF website is now live. This year there will be a link in the navigation bar for information on processes and documentation specific to the Major Groups and other Stakeholders at the 2020 HLPF. More information will be uploaded in the coming months.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020
HLPF VNR 2020
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/

2nd South Asia Regional Institute on the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action 20-26 April 2020, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Asian Action Institute offers an opportunity to share, reflect upon and learn about ways to achieve social change through nonviolent civil resistance actions. 

The Institute is scheduled to be held in Park Villege, Kathmandu, Nepal from 20 to 26 April, 2020. Please note that the deadline for submitting application is on 05 February, 2020.
To know more about the Institute and Apply, visit: http://asianactioninstitute.org/

Know about the Institute partners

Center for Social Change, Nepal http://socialchange.org.np/

Department of Conflict, Peace and Development Studies, Nepal http://dcpds-tu.edu.np/
 
National Network of the Families of the Missing and Disappeared, Nepal https://nefadnepal.org/

International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, United States https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/

For enquiry

Email us at: nepal.socialchange@gmail.com / nonviolentinstitute@gmail.com

Work Calendar 2020

• 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/ 
• ADA Twitter account @alliance_asia