ADA Newsletter- July 2020

Dear ADA Members and Friends,
 
The month of July was quite hectic because of the HLPF and more so because of its entirely virtual nature due to the COVID  pandemic where everybody worked in the very odd time frame, something that needs to be worked out to make the HLPF or any global event more engaging in the virtual format. Despite the challenges, the virtual event enabled more participants to join the sessions from different parts of the world who would not normally be in New York.
 
We also observed few VNR countries who followed up the national processes in their respective countries, which is a great sign, as the national level follow up mechanism needs to be practiced vigorously post any regional or global events.  In nut-shell the HLPF has been very engaging and hope all of you could get some rest and set to prepare for UNGA 2020.
 
Please feel free to share your concerns and opinion and how can we help you, by writing to ADA secretariat and share 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 or info@ada2030.org 
 
In solidarity, 

Jyotsna Mohan
Coordinator - ADA

Table of Contents

High Level Political Forum, 2020
MGoS Engagement in the HLPF
ADA’s Engagement in HLPF - 2020
HLPF Official Side Event : 10. 30 GMT, Friday, July 10, 2020
Accelerating ‘whole of society’ action on SDG implementation through innovative civil society partnerships (July 10th) 
HLPF Side Event 
The role of SDG 16 + in accelerating 2030 Agenda Monitoring and Implementation (July 15th) 
Launch of ADA-Forus Goal 16 Report , July 15, 2020 : “Realising the potential of Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda to promote and protect civic space
Follow up
VNR 2020 Reflection and SDGs Action Week Planning meeting organized by Nepal SDG forum, July, 27, 2020
Action Please!!!
Call for application: ADA -JANIC SNS Training Program (3 Weeks)
Application Deadline - August 18, 2020 Training on Social Networking Sites (SNS): Their Users and Social Implications
INFID OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE FAST TRACKING OF THE DISCUSSION AND PASSAGE OF THE BILL ON THE ELIMINATION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak.
Calendar 

 

High Level Political Forum, 2020

The meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development in 2020 was held from Tuesday, 7 July, to Thursday, 16 July 2020, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This included the three-day ministerial meeting of the forum from Tuesday, 14 July, to Thursday, 16 July 2020. .

The theme was "Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development ".

In the 2020 HLPF, participants debated where we stand on the SDGs in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They reflected on how the international community can respond to the pandemic in a way that puts us back on track to achieve the SDGs and accelerate progress during the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.

47 countries carried out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the 2020 HLPF from Friday, 10 July to Thursday, 16 July 2020. For more details, please click here.

MGoS Engagement in the HLPF

Despite the technical challenges of hosting a virtual HLPF, there were 93,346 views on UN Web TV and MGoS engagement remained high:

 
Despite such high numbers of engagement levels, the impact of such interventions is one big question mark even after five years of SDGs implementation. 

Voluntary National Reviews
As noted above, 20 countries are due to respond to MGoS questions in writing. When provided, they will be uploaded to the VNR section of the website, under the page allocated to the country in question: 
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/vnrs/
 
Ministerial Declaration
Please refer to the letter dated 17 July from the President of the Economic and Social Council H.E. Mona Juul placing under silence procedure until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 July the draft ministerial declaration of the high-level segment of ECOSOC and of the high-level political forum on sustainable development.
 
Update: Following the breaking of the silence procedure by many countries and also raising certain objection on few paragraphs, the ECOSOC presidency is now with Pakistan having His Excellency Munir Akram as the new President with a hope that the draft Ministerial Declaration could still be worked on.
 
HLPF/ ECOSOC Review
The revised draft resolution entitled, “Review process of the implementation of General Committee resolution 67/290 and 70/299 on the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level and resolution 72/305 on the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council”, has been placed under silence procedure, extended until Monday, 3 August 2020 at 12 noon (New York) EST. Further updates will be available via the website of the President of the General Assembly under 'Documents' and then 'Letters':
https://www.un.org/pga/74/documents/letters/
 

ADA’s Engagement in HLPF - 2020

 During the High-Level Political Forum, ADA was very much engaged and worked in close partnership with Asia-Pacific Regional CSO Mechanism (APRCEM) and presented CSO Perspective on Day 1 during the Session 4 entitled ‘Transformative pathways to realize the 2030 Agenda: a whole of society approach taking into account the impact of COVID19 (Stakeholder perspective)’ of the HLPF apart from closely coordinating with the members and partners.

 
ADA also organized two side events during the HLPF 2020.

HLPF Official Side Event: 10. 30 GMT, Friday, July 10, 2020

 ADA co-organized this event with JANIC, Forus, TAP Network, Global Alliance on Reporting on Progress on SDG 16+, UNDP, RIS/FIDC India,  CSO SDG Alliance, Malaysia and Jawaharlal Nehru University and other partners. Speakers came from a wide range of civil society organizations, all of whom emphasized the need for coalition action at all levels. Through different national and regional contexts, participants gave examples of effective and even innovative partnerships, but also presented the limits and future challenges in this area. Indeed, some institutions are still reluctant to put in place concerted decision-making mechanisms, a trend that has been accentuated by the pandemic.

The event was moderated by ADA Chair, Mr. Hideki Wakabayshi from JANIC, Japan.

Participants included John Romano (TAP Network), Ingo Ritz (SDG Watch Europe/Global Call to Action against Poverty), Dr. Gulshan Sachdeva (Centre for European Studies), Dr. Sabyasachi Saha (Research and Information System for Developing Countries India), Dr. Denison Jayasooria (CSO SDG Alliance), Priya Sood (Global Alliance on Reporting on Progress on SDG 16+), Artemy Izmestiev (UNDP) and Hideki Wakabayashi (JANIC - Japan NGO Centre). 
Full Report Here

HLPF Side Event

The role of SDG 16 + in accelerating 2030 Agenda Monitoring and Implementation (July 15th) :

ADA Organized its second non-official side event on The role of SDG 16 + in accelerating 2030 Agenda Monitoring and Implementation July 15th 2020 in partnership with Forus, Govt. of Nepal, UNESCAP, TAP Network, Global Alliance on Reporting on Progress on SDG 16+,, DIHR, Community of Democracy and  NGO Federation of Nepal. The participants of this side-event looked at the importance of implementing SDG 16, looking at civil and political rights in particular.
 
One of the main challenges identified by speakers is the lack of data to monitor the implementation of SDG 16. They shared the need of including citizen-generated data to complement what is available to governments.
 
Speakers shared online resources and reports with recommendations for effecting implementation of SDG 16, focusing on a whole-of-society approach. They advocated for a more participatory and inclusive process for VNRs. Spotlight reports in particular could provide concrete recommendations to governments and should be seen as complementary to official VNR reports. They are often put together by coalitions of CSOs and are considered an efficient way to take up inputs by civil society and to put a finger on the pulse of how people are experiencing progress.

Launch of ADA-Forus Goal 16 Report , July 15, 2020 : “Realising the potential of Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda to promote and protect civic space

The report “Realising the potential of Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda to promote and protect civic space” was launched at the event. It illustrates that some of the most immediate impacts of the pandemic have been to exacerbate and deepen existing problems faced by civil society organizations in terms of civic space and enabling environment.  It includes 18 case studies detailing the impacts of COVID-19 and highlights the urgent need to develop indicators at national and international levels to measure the government’s efforts to protect civic space and fundamental freedoms

Follow up

VNR 2020 Reflection and SDGs Action Week Planning meeting organised by Nepal SDG Forum, July, 27, 2020

Nepal SDGs Forum held a VNR 2020 Reflection and SDGs Action Week Planning Meeting on 27 July 2020. The meeting reviewed and reflected on the efforts of the Government of Nepal, Nepali CSOs and development partners on VNR 2020 process, discussed follow up actions, and brainstormed for SDGs Action Week to be observed in September. NFN President chaired and moderated the meeting.

Hon. Member of National Planning Commission Mr Min Bahadur Shahi was the chief guest of the meeting which was attended by CSO networks, alliances, development partners, and development and human rights activists. Representatives of international civil society networks also participated in the meeting. GCAP Asia Coordinator Mr Pradeep Baisakh and Asia Development Alliance (ADA) Coordinator Ms Jyotsna Mohan Singh joined the meeting and appreciated the collaborative actions of the CSOs and the Government of Nepal. 

Action Please!!!

Call for application: ADA -JANIC SNS Training Program (3 Weeks)

Application Deadline - August 18, 2020
Training on Social Networking Sites (SNS): Their Users and Social Implications

The proposed  Online training (Starting August 24, 2020, until  September 11) is jointly organized by ADA and JANIC. The training aims at creating  SNS campaigns addressing digital security and infographics to tackle potential human rights violations especially in the context of shrinking civic spaces and COVID 19 Pandemic in most of the countries globally, where the voices of the civil society have been muted on the virtual platforms, especially during the multi-stakeholder events.

INFID OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE FAST TRACKING OF THE DISCUSSION AND PASSAGE OF THE BILL ON THE ELIMINATION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE 

Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak 

Calendar

• 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