What happen so far?

 
we just concluded the 2.5 days South and South West Asia sub regional forum on SDGs organised by the ESCAP with the govt of Nepal. So far Nepal is the only country presenting VNR in 2023 ( may be Laos too but not sure)
The format of the forum has been great where all the goals ( to be reviewed in 2024, 1,2, 13,16 and 17) were discussed with remarkable interaction during the sub-group sessions. The CSOs were highly engaged n heard  ( unlike the regional forum -APFSD with our limited interventions and hardly any time for QnA) and HLPF where the QnA happens only in our side events)
We all were also invited to speak about during the VNR clinic organised by the ESCAP on Monday , October 9 where we discussed the challenges and opportunities in the VNRs. It was great to hear what the member state think , and the most interesting part where they admitted that it’s difficult n challenged for them to incorporate the ( the qualitative n quantitative too) ‘citizens led data’ into the ‘standardized format’ and we offered them to have us writing at least a chapter of the VNR and we could overcome this challenge as well ( of incorporating our data into the VNRs)
ADA also got to chair  one such multi-stakeholder session ( 16.3 access to Justice )

2024 Voluntary National Reviews Clinic

An Associated Event of the Seventh South and South-West Asia Subregional Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals
Monday 9 October 2023, 09:00-15:00
Sur Sudha Hall, The Soaltee Kathmandu
Participants
The workshop will gather a broad range of stakeholders involved in VNR processes, such as:
o Government officials engaged in various aspects of implementing and monitoring the SDGs.
o Representatives of civil society organizations active in SDG advocacy and implementation, including those representing or working with marginalized and vulnerable groups.
o Representatives of the private sector.
o Experts from think tanks and academia.
o Other stakeholders involved in VNR processes at the national, local, sub-regional and regional levels.
Some highlights from today
Pakistan created the SDGs language during the second VNR presentation
Maldives- efforts to include various stakeholders especially from the grassroot level, fisherfolks, indigenous , individuals and CSOs to instil a sense of ownership
India has complete convergence with the SDGs where action points were taken at the local level, but COVID was one of the challenges faced, data collection and upgradation at the local level is the challenge. The govt has also built the SDGs dashboard apart from sensitization on SDGs with the people
Nepal has developed a monitoring framework and focus on the key areas of development,, especially poverty alleviation, ,horizontal and vertical coordination/ policy coherence
Follow up from the MDG, developed a monitoring framework, elaborated upon the good practices, Social Protection, cooperative, sustainable energy and community forestry, robust collaboration with MGOS,
Data reconciliation – there are data even with different govt , UN and CSOs.
May be a data comparison of the UNESCAP and People Scorecard – for validation- great suggestion from UN.

A number of engagement opportunities coming up!.

1. ECOSOC Partnership Forum, taking place on 30 January at UN HQ in New York
   • Info is on the website here

§  Please share your contributions to the joint submission from NGO MG here Deadline 1 November 
§  There is also an opportunity to submit your own inputs directly via the ECOSOC Form Deadline 3 November
§  Side event application form is here Deadline 24 November

1. Join the Nomination Committee for the upcoming election of OPs

 
As we explained, we are seeking 4 NGO MG members to join the Nomination Committee for elections for OPs to be held in early 2024. Please email Lani if you would like to join the Nomination Committee at ngomajorgroupopny@gmail.com

1. Information for HLPF 2024

• The 2024 HLPF website with Overview and Timeline is now live here. 
• More information on engaging with the HLPF in 2024 will be made available and informative webinars will be set up with UN DESA as in previous years.
• There will be opportunities to feed into the NGO MG Position Paper in early 2024
• There will also be opportunities to encourage local groups to volunteer to be part of the VNR Task Group in early 2024. There are 44 countries submitting reviews, full list is here: https://hlpf.un.org/2024/vnrs

 
2024 ECOSOC Partnership Forum

The 2024 Partnership Forum of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will be held on Tuesday, 30 January 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (EDT), at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Under the overall theme of “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions”, the 2024 ECOSOC Partnership Forum will bring together the UN Member States and stakeholders to discuss innovative efforts that are driving actions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to highlight the contributions partnerships can make in this regard.  The Forum will place a special emphasis on the SDGs that will be reviewed at the 2024 High-level Political Forum (HLPF): Goal 1 (No Poverty); Goal 2 (Zero Hunger); Goal 13 (Climate Action); Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions); and Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Registration for stakeholders to attend, either in-person or virtually, will open in December 2023.

For more information about the event, visit sdgs.un.org/2024ECOSOCPartnershipForum.

Global online stakeholder consultation 

A global online stakeholder consultation is being organized to solicit written views, experiences and proposals from all relevant stakeholders to inform the preparations for the 2024 ECOSOC Partnership Forum. A summary report will be prepared by UN DESA and be made available online ahead of the event.   

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, parliamentarians, local governments, the private sector, scientists, academia, women, youth and other interested stakeholders are welcomed to submit inputs through this link: bit.ly/ECOSOCPartner24Consultation. 

Deadline for submission: 3 November 2023 (6 p.m., EST)    

Call for side events for the 2024 ECOSOC Partnership Forum  

Side events may be organized in connection with the Partnership Forum by Governments, UN system entities, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC either in-person (inside the UN headquarters; or in outside venues arranged by the organizers) or in a virtual format. The side events should be related to the overall theme of the Partnership Forum.   

Deadline: 24 November 2023  

Submit your side event proposal here: forms.office.com/e/JNE78DiLJR.