ADA Newsletter- September 2020

Dear ADA Members and Friends,
 
It was great to see the civil society actively engaging in UNGA and related activities in September on various virtual forums apart from organising national events and this has further reiterated our vision of working in solidarity despite the pandemic. This was also the first-ever virtual UNGA with pre-recorded speeches from the highest number of heads of states in the history of UNGA , however, we hope to see face to face events post pandemics. In any case, let’s continue our fights to curb injustice and inequality and make our voices heard at various fora.
 
Please feel free to share your  story on working in this ‘new normal’ along with 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  info@ada2030.org  
 
In solidarity, 

Jyotsna Mohan
Coordinator - ADA

Table of Contents

ADA – JANIC Social Networking Sites (SNS) Three Weeks online Training – (August 26 to September 10, 2020)
National SDGs Summit and Peoples´ Assembly, Kathmandu, September 25, 2020
Pakistan People Assembly on SDGs , Islamabad , September, 24, 2020
UN General Assembly (UNGA): High-Level Meetings of the 75th Session – September 21 to October 2, 2020
Action Please!!!
Citizen’s Dashboard on SDGs - Pakistan
Worth a Read!!
Eminent Persons Open Letter
Upcoming Activities of ADA
 

ADA – JANIC Social Networking Sites (SNS) Three Weeks Online Training – (August 26 to September 10, 2020)

The SNS training is jointly organized by ADA and JANIC aiming at creating  SNS campaigns addressing digital security and infographics to tackle potential human right violations exploring digital infrastructure as they relate to civil society in democracies and shrinking civic space considering the role of privacy, anonymity, free expression, and free association and examine the digital tools and practices that enable these freedoms. The training consists of three two  themes:

• The role of civil society in democracies especially in the context of continued shrinking civic space
• Individual and collective digital security 

The training focussed on digital civil society, its roles in a democracy, and the political economy of the Internet ecosystem apart from the lectures and discussion on the language of human rights and applications to the digital ecosystem threat modeling, digital privacy, authentication, and protecting one’s account. at the end of the training, each participant developed their own SNS manual, which will be put together to make one SNS manual and SNS tool kit, a hands-on manual to help CSOs work efficiently in the digital work.
 

 National SDGs Summit and Peoples´ Assembly, Kathmandu, September 25, 2020

National SDGs Summit and Peoples´ Assembly on 2030 agendas jointly organized by the National Planning Commission (NPC), UN Agency, Nepal SDGs Forum and committed to accelerating the progress of the government of Nepal, private sector, cooperatives, CSOs, UN agencies, I/NGOs and all development partners on the occasion of 5th anniversary of SDGs and SDGs Action Week.

Pakistan People Assembly on SDGs , Islamabad , September, 24, 2020
 

UN General Assembly (UNGA): High-Level Meetings of the 75th Session – September 21 to October 2, 2020

Schedule:
- High-level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN: Monday, 21 September 2020 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm EST. Theme: “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism”. The recording can be watched on the United Nations Web TV website at http://webtv.un.org.
 
- General debate: Tuesday, 22 September to Saturday, 26 September, and Tuesday, 29 September 2020 from 9:00 am to 2:45 pm and from 3:00 to 9:00 pm EST. Theme: “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism – confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action”.
 
- Biodiversity Summit: Wednesday, 30 September 2020 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm EST.
 
- High-level meeting on the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Thursday, 1 October 2020 from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm EST.
 
- High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: Friday, 2 October 2020 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm EST (tentatively).
 
Notes:
- Wherever possible, online meetings remain the recommended and preferred option. Since New York State guidelines do not currently permit indoor gatherings of more than 25 people, all events will be ticketed to limit the number of delegates in the United Nations Headquarters complex and in each meeting room.
- To the prevailing conditions under COVID-19 and the restricted nature of the arrangements for the 75th session, access to the UN HQ premises will not be allowed for representatives of NGOs irrespectively of their status with the ECOSOC. Special passes for NGOs in consultative status with the ECOSOC will therefore not be distributed. In addition, temporary passes will not be issued, and annual United Nations grounds passes that were issued earlier in 2020 will not provide access to United Nations premises.
- Meetings can be watched live and on-demand on the United Nations Web TV website at http://webtv.un.org.
 
2. Sustainable Development Goals Moment during the UNGA – Friday, September 18, 2020
 
In line with General Assembly resolution 74/4, the Sustainable Development Goals Moment was held virtually on Friday, 18 September. If you missed it, you can watch the recording of the session here. More information can be found in the SDG Moment Microsite.
 
The SDG Moment was complemented by a major media broadcast on the SDGs, titled ‘Nations United’, that was pushed widely on media distribution platforms. Combining powerful interviews with leading icons, activists and thinkers; dynamic archive stories; and instructive data visualizations, the 30-minute film grapples with the world’s biggest issues – the climate crisis, poverty and inequality, gender inequality and injustice. Nations United’ will elevate the vision of the 2030 Agenda, showcase critical actions, and emphasize the need to transform our future to deliver the SDGs.
 
Additionally, the virtual, interactive SDG action zone during high-level week is providing further opportunities for Governments and other stakeholders to identify solutions for accelerating implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The online Sustainable Development Goals action zone is open from 22 to 24 September (see https://sdgactionzone.org).

Action Please!!!

Citizen’s Dashboard on SDGs - Pakistan

Worth a Read!!  

The letter by UN 2020 has signatures by 49 eminent persons. Signatories to the letter include former Presidents, Prime Ministers, UN officials and Foreign Ministers including Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland; Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly; Danilo Türk, former Prime Minister of Slovenia; and Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The letter suggests that the 75th anniversary should be not only a time to celebrate past achievements, but also to take stock of present challenges to the multilateral system. The signatories urged current heads of government to explicitly recognize these challenges in their remarks September 21; and to call for a dedicated intergovernmental process to pursue improvements to the system in the follow-up to the UN75 Political Declaration. 
 

 Upcoming Activities of ADA

Call for Application – ADA Goal 16 Plus Report
Capacity development Workshop on Project Management

• 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