SDG 16 Conference Rome – April 21-22, 2022

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the International Development Law Organization, and the Government of Italy organized the SDG 16 Conference 2022, held from 21 to 22 April in a hybrid format. Building on the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 editions and drawing on the insights of participants from government, international organizations, civil society, academia, and youth, the Conference deliberated how a people-centered approach to governance can help rebuild trust, accelerate progress towards sustainable development and tackle the challenges facing a post-COVID world.

The Conference also examined how COVID-19 has contributed to the root causes and drivers of conflict and instability, challenged the delivery of public services, threatened the rule of law, and increased inequality and exclusion.

The first half of day -1 was a dedicated Civil Society session spearheaded by TAP Network where the Rome Civil Society Declaration on SDG16+ was introduced for further endorsements from the civil society organizations all across the globe apart from statement preparation for presentations later on the day 1. This conference had dedicated civil space in each segment which was highly appreciated by the CSOs.

Action Please!
Review of NGO MG Position Paper Drafts
Below are the first drafts of the various sections of the NGO Major Group position paper. Please review these and add your suggestions in commenting mode by 18 May.
SDG 4
SDG 5
SDG 14
SDG15
SDG 17
Interlinkages

NOTE: Please add suggestions as in-line wording suggestions. Please do NOT add general comments on the right side of the document about topics that should/should not be included or should be addressed differently. Your clear wording suggestions are much more easily assessed and incorporated by the drafting teams.

Also, the opportunity for major substantive inputs was when inputs were solicited via a Google Form in February and March. Please do not add entire paragraphs or huge chunks of text at this stage as we are still working to keep the paper to a manageable word count (~1000 words/section).

Finally, the section on Interlinkages needs particular support at this stage and your comments here are especially welcome.

NGO MG Side-Event Process

Here is the google form where you and your organizations can register until next week to collaborate for the NGO MG HLPF Side-Event:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QUQSa1KYqRUWzGd0I8qDIwOff52OaF-WUPGm9RJznx0/viewform?edit_requested=true

The Side-Event call for proposals is now open until May 31 as per the information provided by UNDESA https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf#hlpf2022 .

High-Level Political Forum 2022 Under the Auspices of ECOSOC

The meeting of the HLPF in 2022 will be held from Tuesday, 5 July, to Thursday, 7 July, and from Monday, 11 July, to Friday, 15 July 2022, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Wednesday, 13 July, to Friday, 15 July 2022, as a part of the high-level segment of the Council.
The theme for the HLPF 2022 will be “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
The HLPF in 2022 will review in-depth Sustainable Development Goals 4 on quality education, 5 on gender equality, 14 on life below water, 15 on life on land, and 17 on partnerships for the Goals. The forum will take into account the different and particular impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across all Sustainable Development Goals and the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Goals.
· New: Invitation letter from the President of ECOSOC for the 2022 High-level Segment of ECOSOC and High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) (6 April 2022)
· New: Draft programme for the 2022 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
· New: Secretariat’s concept note for the 2022 HLPF
45 countries will carry out voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For more details, please click here.
UNDESA will organize substantive preparations for the thematic reviews of the HLPF 2022 together with relevant UN system partners. For more details, please visit Expert Group Meetings on 2022 HLPF Thematic Review.
Regional Forums for Sustainable Development were convened by the Regional Commissions. The regional forums assessed progress and exchange knowledge, good practices and policy solutions to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with regional priorities and specificities.
UN system and other intergovernmental bodies and forums were invited to provide inputs to the thematic reviews of the 2022 HLPF. Please click here to access the online platform which contains the inputs to the HLPF.
The HLPF will adopt the Ministerial Declaration as the outcome of its session. The President of ECOSOC will also prepare a summary to capture the key messages of the discussions.
Other events, including the Side Events, VNR Labs, Special Events, and Exhibition will be organized on the margins of the 2022 HLPF.

REPORTS

Side Events and Exhibitions

Side Events and Exhibitions provide great opportunities to discuss themes and SDGs under review at the HLPF, deepen the discussion on VNRs, identify new issues, listen to all voices, and help spread greater awareness of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs in general at all levels.
Side Events and Exhibitions will be scheduled on the margins of the 2022 HLPF under the auspices of ECOSOC and sponsored by Member States, the UN system, intergovernmental organizations, the Major Groups and other Stakeholders and accredited Non-governmental Organizations including those with special consultative status.
Proposed side events and exhibitions should be closely related to the work of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and should have as a main focus the theme for the 2022 meeting under the auspices of ECOSOC "Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". The HLPF in 2022 will also review in-depth SDG 4 on quality education, SDG 5 on gender equality, SDG 14 on life below water, SDG 15 on life on land, and SDG 17 on partnerships for the Goals.
In view of the large number of requests anticipated, and taking into consideration the very limited time allotted for the Side Events and Exhibitions, requests should be limited to ONE per entity and in line with the Guidelines (link below)
Given the ongoing situation linked to COVID-19, it has been decided that all Side events and Exhibitions on the margins of the 2022 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held virtually.
We call on all interested organizers to be flexible on the timings of their proposed event so that it does not run parallel to the main meeting.
Interested parties can begin to submit their applications today, Monday, 4 April 2022.
The application portal will close on Tuesday, 31 May 2022.
We will contact ALL organizers on the status of their side-event AFTER the close of the application process, by mid-June.

Guidelines for Side Events in HLPF 2022
New: Kindly submit your application for side-events to the HLPF 2022 using this link
Guidelines for Exhibitions in HLPF 2022
New: Exhibition application form in HLPF 2022

Global Online Stakeholder Consultation – SDGs under Review at the 2022 HLPF

All stakeholders were invited to submit inputs through a global online stakeholder consultation on the SDGs under review during the 2022 HLPF and interlinkages with other SDGs.
· For details check here: bit.ly/SDGsConsultation2022
· Please check the information flyer here.

Youth Forum Focuses on Five SDGs Under HLPF Review in 2022

Youth’s recommendations on education, gender, biodiversity, and means of implementation will be forwarded to the ECOSOC High-level Segment, HLPF, UN Transforming Education Summit, and UN Ocean Conference. Read

Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) - 2022 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development

According to the letter from H.E. Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the ECOSOC, on the closing of the list for countries that will be presenting their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) at the 2022 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) for your information.

Since the first communication dated October 4, a number of other countries have expressed their wish to present their VNRs for the first time at the HLPF. For your ease of reference, please find below the final list of VNR-presenting countries (a total of 45):

Andorra*, Argentina**, Belarus*, Botswana*, Cameroon*, Comoros*, Côte d’Ivoire*, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador*, Eritrea, Eswatini*, Ethiopia*, Gabon, Gambia*, Ghana*, Greece*, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Italy*, Jamaica*, Jordan*, Kazakhstan*, Latvia*, Lesotho*, Liberia*, Luxembourg*, Malawi*, Mali*, Montenegro*, the Netherlands*, Pakistan*, the Philippines**, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal*, Somalia, Sri Lanka*, Sudan*, Suriname, Switzerland**, Togo***, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates*, Uruguay***

VNR Countries in Asia - 2022
Kazakhstan*, Pakistan*, the Philippines**, Sri Lanka*,
Pacific- Tuvalu

(Note: Countries with one asterisk * are second timers, those with two asterisks** are third timers, those with three asterisks *** are presenting for the fourth time, while those without asterisks are presenting for the first time).

Interesting Readings!!

NGO MG Global and Regional Organizing Partners ‘contact details

Global Organizing Partners (ngomajorgroupopny@gmail.com):
Jessica Bridgers (jessica.bridgers@wf a.org)
M. Victoria Espada (mariavictoria.espada@dianova.ngo)
Oli Henman (oli.henman@action4sd.org)

Regional Organizing Partners:
Central Africa: Bernard Lutete Di Lutete (bernlutete@yahoo.fr)
Eastern Africa: Henry Oriokot (henrycidc@gmail.com)
Northern Africa: Hagar Monsif (h.monsif@maatpeace.org)
Southern Africa: Joseph Mihaye (aminiac15@gmail.com)
Western Africa: Kofi Kankam (eri@eri.kabissa.org)

Caribbean: Donovan McLaren (kevoy1@yahoo.com) and Joseph Severe (unascadhaiti@gmail.com)
North America: Kehkashan Basu (kehkashanbasu@greenhopefoundation.com)
South America: Rosario Diaz Garavito (r.garavito@themillennialsmovement.org)

Asia: Jyotsna Mohan (jyotsna@ada2030.org)
Central Asia: Artem Stepanenko (a.stepanenko@eca-ces.ru)
Europe: Lara-Zuzan Golesorkhi (golesorkhiwow@gmail.com)
Middle East/North Africa: Anis Brik (anisdago@gmail.com)
Pacific: Emeline Siale (siale@piango.org)

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 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

List