Summit 21: Civil Society move towards SDG advocacy and implementation

As reported in IISD, civil society has begun to move towards advocacy and implementation. Civil society organizations (CSOs) have presented initial analyses, while urging Heads of State and Government to adopt firm commitments at the UN Summit for the post-2015 development agenda. Meanwhile they continue to address Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, and to reflect on the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3). 

According to Christian Kroll in an article published by BertelsmannStiftung, Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN even the "best-performing countries by today's standards" will have to strive to make significant improvements over the next 15 years in order to achieve the SDGs. Using a "stress test" for the SDGs with a color-coded SDG Index in analyzing the relative performance of the 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for each goal and 34 indicators, they say that the "fit five"—Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Switzerland—“can be considered ready for the SDGs.” (See: Sustainable Development Goals: Are the rich countries ready?)

Beyond 2015 has released ‘From Policy to Action,' which contains key advocacy messages for implementing the post-2015 development agenda. It includes seven key messages for Heads of State and Government: an urgent commitment to start implementation of the 2030 Agenda at multiple levels, including clear plans and timelines for participatory implementation; definition of arrangements and responsibilities for coordination and implementation of the agenda to foster policy coherence; allocation of financial resources for implementation; a roadmap for communication and dissemination of information about the agenda at multiple levels; a commitment to and process for civil society engagement; commitment to accountability, follow up and review at multiple levels; and recognition of a universal, interlinked and indivisible agenda.

According to Paddy Carter on a blog on the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) website, poor countries cannot fulfill commitments to social protection for all without additional financing,. He recommends that donors consider supporting the introduction and expansion of social protection for all in countries that lack sufficient domestic resources in a way that also promotes domestically-owned social protection programmes.

For full report see: http://sd.iisd.org/news/civil-society-focus-shifts-toward-sdg-advocacy-implementation/