Agenda 2030
Deliberation on Sustainable Development Goals
Deliberation on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda are taking shape and the negotiations on scope and financing of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are becoming more concrete and contentious at the same time. Sustainability has been a concern for several decades and has gained greater importance in light of increasing climate warming and continued instabilities of the social and economic sectors at global levels. Two separate UN processes are underway to determine the SDG framework namely the HLPF (High Level Political Forum) and the OWG (Open Working Group) both working on defining and negotiating the world's Sustainable Development Goals. In addition,various stakeholder groups (NGOs, Business, Civil Society, Academic Institutions) and International Organisations have started their own discussions on what issues and priorities should be core features of the coming SDGs.
To be able to agree on a single integrated framework is critical to ensure successful progress towards the definition and implementation of the SDGs. Concrete goals need to be set at national, regional and global levels and concrete financial resources need to be committed for SDG implementation. The issues and themes that will have been identified as being top priorities will set the stage for policy choices concerning sustainable development goals and determine the world's progress.
CSEND, a think tank focusing on the development nexus of trade, poverty, employment and social equity, is contributing to these deliberation through its engagement in both the global, national and regional levels.
16th International Conference and Fifth Diaspora International Conference of World Association for Sustainable Development (WASD), both co-organised and hosted by the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) in the United Nations Palais de Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, 10-13 April 2018. http://www.wasd.org.uk/geneva2018/program-2018/
Presentations given by Raymond Saner on “ Implementing the SDGs by subnational governments: urgent need to strengthen administrative capacities” and by Lichia Saner Yiu on “ Measuring Progress of SDGs Implementation: Monitoring Process & Improving Coherence & Coordination”
The international agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals signed in 2015 specify that the SDGs will be implemented by national governments and that countries should also embark on SDG implementation at subnational level such as municipalities or provinces. This paper focuses on SDG implementation at local authority level of large cities and explores the needed competences and capacities in goal attainment. Within the time span 2015-2030, changes of political leadership will be inevitable and hence continuity and policy coherence will be essential to make SDG implementation successful by 2030. The 17 SDGs are interdependent goals requiring effective inter-ministerial policy coordination and equally effective consultation with the private sector and civil society stakeholders. Developing effective mechanisms of coordination and consultations takes time and can be easily overturned subsequent to a change of government and administrators putting the sustainability of the society and gains from SDG implementation at risk. The authors describe the main features of the SDGs and of urban development and suggest that an application of ISO 18091 could be a practical method to ensure continuity of administrative performance needed to sustain implementation of the SDGs at local authority level.
The United Nations (UN), in association with the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) Mona, The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT), Jamaica hosted a regional conference under the theme: “Caribbean Development – The 2030 Agenda in Perspective” at the Jamaica Conference Centre, June 28-30, 2017.
Thought piece for the Think 20 Dialogue as a contribution to the G20 Germany 2017 process on “The 2030 Agenda: No Poverty Reduction without Policy Coherence” by Raymond Saner & Lichia Yiu.
EADI conference on Globalisation at the Cross-Roads: Rethinking Inequalities and Boundaries, Bergen, Norway, 20-23 August 2017
CSEND Round Table “Policy Oriented Round Table on the Need for Better Policy Coherence and Policy Coordination for SDG Implementation amongst International Organisations”
Open call expressing profound concern at the inadequacy of measures currently under discussion at the global level (UN-HLPF-ECOSOC) regarding implementation of the SDGs and calls for immediate remedial action to ensure “coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and reviews” of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”