Fact Sheet

Voluntary National Review (VNR) - Asia-Pacific Region- 2022

2016 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
China, Philippines, Republic of Korea,Samoa, Turkey
2017 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh,India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives,  Nepal, Tajikistan,  Thailand
2018 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
Bhutan, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam
2019 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
Azerbaijan*, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia*, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palau, Philippines*, Timor-Leste, Turkey*, Turkmenistan, Vanuatu
2020 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
Bangladesh*, Brunei Darussalam, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India*, Kyrgyz Republic, Micronesia, Nepal*, Papua New Guinea, Samoa*, Solomon Islands, Uzbekistan
2021 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
Bhutan*, China*, Lao People's Democratic Republic*, Marshall Islands, Thailand*, Burma,
2022 VNR Countries from Asia and Pacific
Kazakhstan*, Pakistan*, Philippines**, Sri Lanka*, Tuvalu

 

Introduction and Background

 

Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) serve as instruments to augment the holistic and interdependent nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the national Level and have been fundamental in maintaining the 2030 Agenda as a key priority at the  national, regional and international levels especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The VNRs support the delivery of the 2030 Agenda and the pledge to leave no one behind. 

 

The VNRs are supposed to promote open dialogue among countries and stakeholders on national implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and in this way, they can serve to promote national reviews that are focused, evidence-based, conducive to peer learning and experience-sharing and that identify gaps and good practices and forge partnerships. The issues of multi-stakeholder engagement , however, are missing in many countries even among the second or third term presenting countries.

 

The 2022 High Level Political Forum is entitled ‘Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, In addition to the 45 VNRs, the 2022 session of the HLPF will review in-depth the following five SDGs: 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), 14 (life below water), 15 (life on land), and 17 (partnerships for the Goals).

 

The VNR countries for 2022 also vary in terms of their previous VNR experience. The list includes eight first-time presenters (Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Suriname, and Tuvalu), 26 second-time presenters (Andorra, Belarus, Botswana, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mali, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates), three third-time presenters (Argentina, Philippines, and Switzerland), and two fourth-time presenters (Togo and Uruguay). The 2022 session will be the first time a country has presented a fourth VNR.

 

Altogether 5 countries in Asia- Pacific (Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Philippines and Tuvalu) are presenting the VNR in 2022. 

 

The 2022 VNRs will allow countries to learn from their respective past experiences to improve implementation and review of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, which serve as a global blueprint for sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.  The VNRs will also contribute to national sustainable recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while shifting to a track to realize the sustainable development goals (SDGs) during the Decade of Action and Delivery. 

 

In his letter to Member States, Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has reiterated his intention to “maximize the value of the VNR process” by scheduling sufficient time for interactive discussions. He writes that this aims to ensure:

 

• Adequate feedback to the presenting countries,

• Enhanced sharing of experiences, and

• Peer learning among countries.

 

Please refer to link to see the details of VNR countries

 

Even as governments in the region took action to help those most in need and respond to ongoing crises like pandemics, conflict situation in south and east Asia, financial crisis (Sri Lanka) and moreover the Russia-Ukraine war has has huge impact on Asia leading to intensifying refugee crisis , continued depleting resources and more so  The vulnerability has increased, and huge gaps persist across different population groups. Amid these challenges, the region is not on track to achieve the 2030 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. In fact, progress in the region has slowed down, and with every passing year, the 2030 targets are further out of reach and there is the big question mark on the relevance of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda in this new crisis. 

 

Role of Civil Society Organizations in VNR 

An independent assessment of the voluntary national review reports submitted to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2021 calls on countries to “include forums for meaningful participation by civil society and other stakeholders” through efforts to strengthen major groups’ and other stakeholders’ engagement mechanisms.

The report identifies both positive and concerning trends.

 

1. The number of VNR reports that reported the formal inclusion of non-state actors in governance arrangements dropped from 70% in 2019 and 2020 to 64% in 2021.Only 1 of the 42 VNR reports presented in 2021 recognized the occurrence of shrinking civic space, while none mentioned the ongoing attacks on human rights defenders and environmentalists. Conversely, several national civil society reports have categorically mentioned these issues in various countries. 

2. Fewer VNRs reported conducting baseline and gap assessments, selecting national priorities, integrating the SDGs into national policies, and selecting national targets and indicators to inform SDGs implementation;

3. More VNRs referred to the transformational nature of the 2030 Agenda, with the principle of leaving no one behind as the main focus of 2021 reports;

4. All 2021 full reports (41 countries) identified groups that are being left behind or at risk of being left behind, including children and youth (98% of reports), persons with disabilities (95%), women and/or girls (95%), and the elderly (76%);

5. There has been an increase of the number of countries pointing to human rights-based approaches, inter-generational responsibility, and planetary boundaries; and

6. Only 50% of VNR reports assessed all 17 SDGs in 2021, while in 2020 this figure was 70%.

 

The above finding also reaffirms the worries of the civil society about the authoritative regimes in many countries amplified during the last two years of COVID Pandemics and the continued shrinking civic space, all over the globe and so in the Asia-Pacific region. The top ten violations captured by the CIVICUS Monitor 2020 include : (i) Protestors detained (ii) Harassment (iii) Censorship (iv) Detention (v) Attacks on Journalists (vi) Protest Disruption (vii) Restrictive Laws (viii) Journalists detained (ix) Excessive Force used (x) Human Rights Defenders Detained. Technology advances have brought increased surveillance on civil society and creates new risks for civic space. 

 

One of the first time VNR presenters in 2022  is Tuvalu in the Pacific, where Many people aren’t yet aware of SDGs even with just 10, 000 of the total population. The government solicits big NGOs attendance minus their inputs and hence a big communication gap exists. Sri Lanka, which is struggling with one of the worst economic crises, is yet to have formal consultation with the CSOs. Kazakhstan has adopted strategies and is developing indicators for the implementation of SDGs. However, the governments are engaged in very limited consultations with civil society representatives in Kazakhstan.   So the question is , is the government able to capture the pulse of the CSOs and for that matter, is the whole concept of the VNR (being inclusive, participative and multi-stakeholder) well understood? This applies to many countries when the governments are reluctant to include the voices of the civil society and the big section of the community, which is left behind.

 

Moreover, the civil society parallel reports provide important information on how civic space is being closed in different countries, but these reports have no status in official VNR processes at national, regional or international levels. In order to have effective implementation of the SDGs ,an enabling environment & open civic space are essential conditions. 

 

Assessment of Architecture and the implementation of 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific  

 

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) released its 2021 progress report on the SDGs during the 75th Commission session. 

 

Some of our key analysis in regards to the architecture and implementation of 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific are as follow:

 

• Whole of Society Approach : reporting on multi-stakeholder engagement outside governance arrangements has increased though, reporting on formal processes for stakeholder engagement, such as multi-stakeholder forums, youth councils or annual events. However, information presented in VNR reports does not assess the quality of formal processes for multi-stakeholder engagement. Countries should develop indicators to measure the extent of non-state stakeholder engagement at the national level.

  • In Sri Lanka, Selected stakeholders are invited to few consultations minus engaging them in the steering committee or VNR delivery process. There is no published methodology for the VNR so far in the country. 

  • In the Philippines, the partnerships are diverse and multi-level. The government engages international development partners (multilateral, bilateral cooperation) and the private sector to fund its development projects in various modes of partnerships to finance its development programmes and the SDGs. The government also engages CSOs in specific projects related to SDGs, however, whilst the SDG SubCommittee announced the SDG Stakeholders’ Chamber in 2019, no progress has been achieved. The government only opened an invitation for the SDG stakeholders’ chamber membership to civil society organizations in February 2022. 

  • In Pakistan, partnerships among the private sector and civil society sector is witnessed and many collaborative actions are being done at various levels. Private sector does not have the capacity to fully understand the opportunities available through SDGs therefore measuring their interventions and translating their policies into actions is a little difficult.  

  • The VNR 2022 was presented by the Kazakhstani government in February 2022. Over 150 stakeholders participated. There are a lot of comments and recommendations collected by civil society and business. Now the government is providing the presentation of the reports through the country by providing seminars for different stakeholders. The civil society is suggesting to provide access to the VNR via the web-site.and they hope that the VNR will have open access soon. 

• State of  progress in implementation and reporting -

VNR reports for 2021 continued the upward trend around reporting on several aspects of 2030 Agenda implementation. For example, reporting on the means of implementation improved for information on challenges (98% of the countries), international public finance (95%), impacts of COVID-19 (91%), technology (90%), systemic issues (88%), capacity development (86%), trade (74%), best practices (69%), lessons learned (62%), and learning from peers (38%).

Another increase was observed in reporting on partnerships to realize the SDGs, with 93% of the countries recognizing the role of non-state actors and including their contributions towards implementation. Reporting on efforts at the local level (or localization) shows a steady result (83%), but in Pakistan, the non-functional local governments are creating major impediments towards the implementation of SDGs. Local governments have been non-functional for the last ten years therefore actual implementation at grassroots level is weak. 

The government wishes to engage with other stakeholders including the private sector, however the opportunities are not effectively being launched with coordination. Also, this year the government is more proactive and has been inviting CSOs, HROs, constituency groups like transgenders and farmers, laborers and others for consultations on the VNR process. Pakistan Development Alliance is leading the Voluntary Local Review process across Pakistan with the support of CSOs and INGOs and global forums like A4SD. The Government has also invited PDA and other related stakeholders to contribute to the national VNR report. The process is more inclusive than before.  

• Data Gaps in reporting - 

Most of the  countries indicated their approach to 2030 Agenda implementation had been informed by a baseline or gap assessment around policies, data, or both. Although some countries might have presented this information in previous VNR reports, they should refer to previously done assessments for comparison purposes and continuous progress tracking. 

In Pakistan, the national census held in 2017 after almost 18 years was rejected by the stakeholders due to flaws. The Planning Commission of Pakistan was struggling to have a centralized database for all the SDGs however seven years have passed since the inception of SDGs no validated data for measurement of progress is available.  The civil society has not  been invited to compliment the data gaps. Once the report is available by the end of March 2022 there is a possibility that the draft will be shared with CSOs. However it may not be possible for CSOs to challenge the data mentioned by the governments.  

In the Philippines, Monitoring is done by the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) which maintains a dashboard (SDG Watch) that monitors progress on the goals.  The government has identified indicators and targets based on  conceptual clarity, established methodology, availability of data, and the regularity of data gathering as identified by the tier classification of IAEG SDGs. In May 18, 2017, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) approved the set of SDG indicators consisting of 155 indicators; 102 global SDG indicators, 28 proxy indicators and 25 supplemental indicators. However, the civil society has not been invited to discuss or complement the data gaps. 

Similarly, in SriLanka, the statistics system has not progressed and does not have a proper mechanism for disaggregated data collection and analysis. Subnational governments are marginalized in the process, where a  ‘few’ CSOs were handpicked to discuss the monitoring and review process for 2022 VNR, however, the majority of the right based organizations were excluded.

In all these countries, the civil society has been preparing their independent monitoring reports in the past and preparing the independent shadow reports in 2022 as well. 

• incorporation of the 2030 Agenda in national frameworks, institutional mechanisms,

Continuing the trend past 5 yearsMost countries reporting in 2022,  are making use of new or existing councils, committees or specialized offices to govern 2030 Agenda implementation. For example, in Sri Lanka, its Sustainable Development Council (SDC),,however, without a policy framework and having no Integration of SD dimensions. In the Philippines, its  ??National Economic and Development Authority under the Office of the President and the SDGs are part of the Philippine Development Plan. The plan emphasizes the synergies between government and non-government actions to ensure inclusiveness and equality. In Pakistan, the Planning Commission of Pakistan leads the implementation of SDGs in Pakistan. SDGs Units are established at all regional and provincial levels for planning, policy reforms and implementation. National Priority Framework was approved in March 2018 by the National Economic Council under the Prime Minister of Pakistan, whereas Provincial Priority Frameworks are also developed and being followed by the national and provincial governments . in Kazakhstan, there is no information on SDGs in the national languages, which excludes at least 75% of the population from the discussion and implementation process. Access to information and the possibility of participation are limited due to the lack of materials in the Russian and national language. All countries of Central Asia and Kazakhstan demonstrate poor awareness about the essence of SDG’s and therefore shortage of interest in their implementation. This is true for both governmental structures and CSOs and citizens of the countries, as a whole.

• Lack of focus on tackling systemic barriers and little engagement in the transformative potential of the 2030 Agenda 

So far, hardly any VNR reports systemic reforms with transformative potential . identifies structural barriers to them and they also lack self-critical reflection with focus on their development successes. Structural obstacles to development – such as violent conflicts, corruption, inequality, and inhumane work – hardly find any place in the reports. The same applies to systemic problems and negative spill-over effects in the financial and trade sectors and in unsustainable consumption and production patterns. 

The VNRs need to  expose both progress and implementation gaps at national level in order to allow for corrective actions and change of policies, programmes and institutions. This needs to ensure an adequate analysis of the root causes and systemic determinants of slow progress in all areas including gender inequality, social protection and the global division of labour, hindering factors to environmental justice and socio-economic transformation. This requires special attention to situations of developing countries, global economic trade, tax, monetary and financial frameworks; as well militarism and social and cultural norms such as patriarchy, fundamentalism, racism, casteism, etc with  restrictions on voice of CSOs 

There are few concerns raised by the civil society:

• Methodology of VNR, essence and value of VNR beyond needs to go politicized agenda

• Difficulty in working with most of the indicators

• Lack of quantitative and qualitative data

 

• Lack of policy and process coherence. 

Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an integrated and coherent set represents a major challenge to all countries. Addressing interactions between economic, social and environmental goals in a balanced manner, while avoiding negative effects on the wellbeing of people here and now, elsewhere and later, has been recognised by many countries as one of the most difficult challenges to implementing the SDGs with most countries pointing to climate-related commitments but having a limited focus on agreements for delivery of effective international assistance. More VNR reports revealed an analysis of both domestic and foreign policies on the realization of the SDGs globally, even if fewer countries focused on policy coherence for sustainable development as a guiding framework for 2030 Agenda implementation.

In Pakistan, 27 ministries at federal level and planning & development boards at provincial level form a coordination committee for policy reforms and coherence. However, the meetings of the coordination council are not frequent. The Coordination Council meets around VNR usually. Also, the policy approach clearly recognizes the integration of SDGs as per their respective priority frameworks at national and provincial level. Three pillars of SD are inter related with seven pillars of vision 2025 . However, when it comes to localizing the SDGs, there is a non-existence of the local govt since the past decade in the country. In Sri Lanka, however, very few policies or Institutional coherence are in place. In Mongolia, SDGs  are not integrated in national policies and planning and national targets and indicators for SDGs are not approved yet.

 

Indonesia has integrated the three pillars (social, environmental & economic) of SDGs. Bappenas has attempted to divide the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs into four pillars, taking into account the linkages and support between the pillars;

1. Social development pillars: covering Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

2. Economic development pillars: covering Goals 7, 8, 9, 10 and 17

3. Environmental development pillars: covering Goals 6, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

4. Law and Governance pillars: Goal 16

Some best practices like, synchronizing Formulation and Implementation of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (KLHS) for the Preparation Local Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMD). GOI is also currently drafting an academic paper for the 2020-2045 Long-Term Development Plan that includes renewable-based energy transition initiatives.

 

Focused efforts to leave no one behind still receive insufficient attention -

While the pandemics have badly hit the progress and implementation of the SDGs, not much e??fforts were taken from the government to engage stakeholders except reporting  specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic from an LNOB perspective which is one of the underlying principles of sustainable development. The pandemic has significantly affected sustainable development progress, and in the context of meeting the commitments to a Decade of Action and Delivery and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda, heads of state and government urgently need to accelerate actions and promote transformative change to achieve a just recovery. In Pakistan, this year the government is more proactive and has been inviting CSOs, HROs, constituency groups like transgenders and farmers, labourers and other for consultations on the VNR process. The Government has also invited PDA and other related stakeholders to contribute to the national VNR report. However, many right based grassroot level organizations and constituencies have not been invited so far and hence the gap still exists .  In the Philippines, whilst the SDG SubCommittee announced the SDG Stakeholders’ Chamber in 2019, no progress has been achieved in comparison to the last two reports. Most of the independent civil society-led review, however, analyzed countries’ actions towards progressing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

Good practices - 

In Philippines , the VNR emphasized the synergies between government and non-government

actions to ensure inclusiveness and equality.

SDG4– Alternative Learning System

SDG6 – Green Jobs Act and Mentor Me program

SDG10 – Conditional Cash Transfer, Magna Carta for Persons with Disability and Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities

SDG13 – Climate Risk Management Framework, Project NOAH, and Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan

SDG16 – Bangsamoro Organic Law

SDG17 – Official Development Assistance Portfolio Review

 

In Pakistan, the progress on implementation is slow but steady. COVID 19 has hampered the progress much, however clear progress is witnessed on SDG1,2,3,4,5, 8 and 13.  The Ehsaas Program, Kambyab Jawan Program, clean green program and Billion Tree Tsunami Programs are instrumental in achieving the aforementioned SDGs. Some new laws namely Anti rape Act2021, women courts and transgender empowerment laws and polices are also worth mentioning. 

In Indonesia, the contributions and initiatives that stakeholders have made in supporting the SDGs include:

1. Organizing the World Parliamentary Forum, which was initiated by the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) (since 2017).

2. Collaboration between philanthropists and business actors who are members of the FBI4SDGs (Indonesian Philanthropy and Business for SDGs) supports SDGs financing through a blended finance scheme.

3. The establishment of SDGs centres in various universities, both public and private universities. As of September 2020, 19 SDGs Centers has been formed;

4. Formulation of 27 Governor Regulations for Regional Action Plans (Per September 2020)

5. Establishment of the SDGs Financing Hub initiated by the Ministry of National Development Planning / BAPPENAS and launched by the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia in 2019. 

In the context of development, several achievements in Indonesia include

1. In 2019, The President stopped granting new permits for land clearing in natural forests and peatlands, otherwise known as a permanent forest moratorium. This effort could save 66.2 million hectares of natural forest and land peat from damage (the size of France)

2. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) released the poverty rate in Indonesia in March 2018 at 9.82 percent, the first time it was below two digits since 1998. This percentage continues to improve, 9.22 percent in September 2019.

3. Since the Human Development Index (HDI) was launched in 1990, Indonesia entered the high development category for the first time in the HDI in 2018. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gave a score of 0.707 (ranked 6th in Southeast Asia).

Sustainable Development, which is reflected as ‘Sustainable & Equitable Socio-Economic Development’ in Bhutan’s case, is one of the pillars of Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan. And the Environmental Conservation that has the highest place in the Constitution of Bhutan is another GNH pillar. 

The Policy formulation of Bhutan is run through the screening tool to assess proposed public policies are aligned to the principles and goals of sustainable development. This ensures effective policy coherence.  
 

Lesson Learnt and Recommendations to Strengthen Follow Up and Review in the National Level

 

On Interlinkages and Coherence

 

• A strategic vision for implementing the 2030 Agenda underpinned by a clear political commitment and leadership and political will to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development.

• Effective and inclusive institutional and governance mechanisms to address policy interactions across sectors and align actions between levels of government.

• A set of responsive and adaptive tools to anticipate, assess and address domestic, transboundary and long-term impacts of policies.

• Governments should develop an overarching and cross-cutting National Implementation Plan for the 2030 Agenda generally and ensure that agreed processes are developed for redesigning existing policies or ensuring that new policies and programmes embed the SDG targets.

 

Awareness-Raising & Capacity Building

• Recognise SDGs as the best framework to set the agenda for capacity building of different stakeholders including civil society, and to address issues of human rights, criminal justice, and upholding the rule of law. This kind of training should be made available to empower grassroots communities and various movements

• National governments to organise regular regional and national workshops to engage grassroot communities and to support them in developing indicators for the implementation of SDGs, and to support effective monitoring and tracking

• Provide extensive capacity building to popular movements working in conflict zones on how to use existing human rights mechanisms, including enlisting support from UN special rapporteurs, from the UN Human Rights Council etc.

• Ensure ongoing capacity building is provided for different stakeholders including the duty bearers, to educate communities at the grassroot level (+ for young people) and to support the involvement of experts, especially those with expertise on the rule of law, crime prevention, criminal justice, democracy and human rights

• Strengthen capacity building courses/tools available to different stakeholders, including civil society and the duty bearers, in terms of the rule of law, crime prevention, criminal justice, democracy and human rights and encourage learning about the benefits of multi-stakeholder engagement where diverse partners share their experience and expertise

• There is a need to rebuild the public sector’s capacity to deliver the public services needed by the people

• There is a need to shift government attention and spending in support of poor communities

 

Participation

• Strengthen mechanisms for inclusive public participation in the monitoring & implementation of the 2030 Agenda through localisation and inclusive approaches, especially through the inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable communities

• The governments across the Asia-Pacific region need to follow and promote the inclusion of the most marginalized communities in public decision-making processes especially Women, Children, Persons With Disabilities, LGBTQ+, indigenous and ethnic minorities, theelderly, especially in those processes linked to achieving SDGs. Hence we also cross-reference the 2021 Rome Civil Society Declaration to this document and call for further endorsement of this important declaration by civil society across the globe.

• We call for people centric  VNRs with ensuring the availability of adequate processes for citizens’ dialogue not limiting to a time bound participation 

• Establish direct partnerships and networks and promote coordination among social movements, local communities with LGUs, and the civil society

• Importance of imparting SDG knowledge to the younger generation and engaging them as a foundation to build back better

• Create enabling environments for strengthening the agency, participation, and leadership of indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized groups

• Support civil society organizations through public financing, consultation, collaboration, and the creation of broader spaces to amplify their voices and express their advocacies without threat of cooptation

 

Enabling Environment

 

• Today authoritarian regimes from East to West Asia are abusing the language and instruments of democracy to continue reducing civic space for civil society organizations, from the Philippines to India. We salute the courage of Afghan women who have been (missing word) since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The remarkable people power that has been so evident in the region has continued to challenge draconian laws, for example in Hong Kong in recent times. We are at an historic moment for societies across Asia and Pacific who must continue to call for the commitment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - to which their governments are signatories - to inform all public policy and decision-making in the region

• The role of regional bodies such as ASEAN, SAARC etc. should be explored in relation to the upholding and strengthening of democracy in East and South-East Asia and South Asia

Human Rights

• Asia remains one of the few regions which does not have a regional human rights review mechanism, which would serve to hold governments more accountable for the commitments they have made under various international human rights treaties to which they are signatories.

• Governments should include Rights based agendas that are usually restricted in the VNRs in order to promote civic rights situation 

 

Data

• Officially include citizen’s led data in the VNR to supplement the data gaps

• Review and revise accordingly methods in measuring poverty and of counting the employed or unemployed to ensure millions are not left behind (i.e., Philippines method of measuring poverty incidence and definition of unemployed leaves millions of poor and jobless uncounted). 

• Likewise consult with marginalized sectors in surveying for their needs i.e., persons with disabilities, elderly to ensure their needs and special circumstance/s are considered in relief / aid giving especially during health and economic crisis. 

• For the LGBTQ+, revise survey instruments to include LGBTQ+ headed households and likewise include sexual orientation to account for LGBTQ+ constituents.

 

Linking National, Regional and Global processes

• Connecting the VNR process , which means a complete follow up and review on how the progress was made since the first VNR.

• Hence first present the VNR before the national stake-holders ensuring ‘no one is left behind’ and then presenting at the regional and the global level.

• Using civil society led reports to minimize the data gaps. For example, voluntary people’s report by Sri Lanka, Citizens’s voices report by Pakistan , Spotlight report by Philippines, Annual review report by S. Korea

• This also means recognition of such parallel reports by the DESA and giving a regular space to accommodate these reports.

 

2022 VNR Countries and Contact Points and contributors
Pakistan	Pakistan Development Alliance (PDA), Zia Ur-Rahman
Philippines	PRRM - Beckie Malay
Kazakhstan	ARGO - Jamila Asanova
Pacific, Tuvalu	Teresa Lifuka Drecala.
SriLanka	Uchita De Zoysa, CSO SDG Alliance, Kala Peiris