High-Level Political Forum 2018 - Invitation Side Events

The High-level Political Forum, United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

You will find here the information of Social Watch participation in the framework of the HLPF 2018.

SDG-implementation at national level: What's the point of national reports?

The experience of Voluntary National Reviews and of Civil Society shadow (or spotlight) reporting.
How it is key for meaningful participation and accountability

The national voluntary reporting to the High Level Political Forum of ECOSOC is a practice that has gained traction, as dozens of governments are volunteering each year to participate and contribute their VNRs. A number of CSOs have prepared their own shadow or spotlight reports to follow-up on their governments efforts to implement the 2030-Agenda. Rising inequalities and the need to substantially change policies to achieve the SDGs is a common theme in many of them. Is there a meaningful dialogue between the official and the alternative reports? What is the value of the whole exercise.
July 13, 2018 | 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM
WeWork Grand Central, 4th Floor, Room 4A,
450 Lexington Ave , New York 10017 Read more

 

Conversation with authors of Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2018

Exploring new policy pathways: How to overcome obstacles and contradictions in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
The world is off-track in terms of achieving sustainable development. Fundamental policy changes are necessary to unleash the transformative potential of the SDGs. In particular, there is a need for more coherent fiscal and regulatory policies and a whole-of-government approach towards sustainability.
The Spotlight Report 2018 describes policies, resources and actions that are necessary to implement the 2030 Agenda. It highlights strategies and approaches which depart from business-as-usual and prioritize fulfilment of human rights and respect for planetary boundaries.
At the roundtable event authors of the Spotlight Report 2018 will present key findings and recommendations to participants for discussion.
Church Center, 10THFloor, 777 UN Plaza, New York
12 July 2018, 6:15-7:45PM
Jointly organized by Arab NGO Network for Development, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Public Services International, Global Policy Forum, Society for International Development, Social Watch, Third World Network with support from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Read more

 

Partnership or Business Case? Private Sector and the SDGs

The private sector plays a significant role in achieving the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Several corporations have already pledged their support for the SDGs or evaluated the relevance of SDGs in their business activities. The UN Global Compact has started a global campaign to celebrate business leaders who are taking action to advance the 2030 Agenda.
In many countries, engaging the private sector in SDG implementation is part of official policy. Governments and the UN are seeking increased commitment from the private sector in order to finance SDG implementation and bring growth to their economies. Many governments expect the involvement of companies in SDG implementation to lead to greater social and environmental awareness in business strategies. Read more

Unlocking the Means of Implementation: Civil Society Perspectives on SDG 17

The combine MoI and FfD agendas should tackle the removal of many of the structural barriers to the socio-economic transformation and advance systemic reforms of global economic frameworks to realign them with the imperatives of human rights, gender justice, people-centeredness and sustainable development. Despite the high-level political promises of the 2030 Agenda, the world is off track to reach the SDGs, the cost being paid by all those people and communities that continue to be marginalized in the face of a world economy that is increasingly focused of its new frontiers of digitalization and dematerialization. The latest economic cyclical upturn, not generalized and mostly centred within the Global North, has been accompanied by an increase in hunger and the worsening in the profile of vulnerabilities, heightened carbon emissions, and the persistence of structural levels of inequalities between and within countries. Our economy fails when it downturns and fails us again when it moves forward.
The side event will aim to address the current mismatch between the scope and urgency posed by world’s current multiple challenges and the far-too timid level of ambition in terms of public policies and investment. It will explore a set of key proposals which could unlock the means of implementation for the SDGs and put the international community back on track to purse the ambition of sustainable development. HLPF Side Event – Wednesday, July 11, 18:30-20:00 – UNHQ CR4 Read more