Monthly Archives: July 2020

Stop Child Abuse in Social Media – HLPF Side Event 15 July.

A very successful panel event was held on 15, July 2020 A full recording of the event is available on YouTube The panelists are extraordinary presenters, passionate, and knowledgeable in their area of expertise, all contributing to our objective ‘Stop Child Abuse in Social Media.’  The represented Government, NGO’s. The Tech Industry and Faith Based organizations and demonstrated how important broad and multi-faceted partnership and a whole of society approach are for systemic change.

Christ Herlinger of The National Catholic Reporter provided news coverage of the event entitled

Read the full article

The outcome of the side event was a set of Policy Recommendations addressed to National Governments, Technology Companies and Civil Society. We hope that these policy recommendations will be useful in your work. Also have a look at the 5 country ministerial voluntary principles to counter online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Check out Microsoft’s Contribution to Digital Safety. Of course this is not sufficient but it is a beginning. See Cathy Rowan notes on ethical investment and John Tanagho’s Powerpoint Presentation. A Summary of the Study done by International Justice Mission is available here

Some Resources on the SDG’s released during the HLPF 2020

A Sustainable Development Goals Progress Chart 2020 presenting a snapshot of global and regional progress. I extracted SDG 1 and the legend to see extreme poverty and social protection coverage.

Look at the regions where there is insufficient data and very far from target. Notice the deterioration in Northern and Western Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean and this is prior to COVID 19.

Philip Alston, outgoing Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights had this to say “When you look at what COVID-19 has done, which has really been just to pull the Band-Aid off the poverty wounds, we see all too clearly that in fact it was very far from being eliminated,” Read the whole article. The report is entitled “The parlous state of poverty eradication.” An advance unedited version is available. The Special Rapporteur urged moving away from an almost exclusive focus on economic growth as a means to reduce poverty and focus rather on the reduction of inequalities and the redistribution of wealth. Two policies towards this are tax justice and universal social protection floors. He further called for deepening democracy and embracing participatory governance.

Another resource can be accessed here It is the SDG dashboard. Below are the top 7 performing countries and some of the countries doing less well.

See where some the Countries are in which Good Shepherd has a presence and South Sudan is even lower at 165 and there are 27 countries with no data.

You can get country specific data in the country profiles Also the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020 provides another way of learning about the implementation of the SDG

Link

The Virtual High Level Political Forum ended yesterday, July 16

A disappointing end to the High Level Political Forum. Throughout the two weeks words abounded calling for accelerated action but the political will of the member states was lacking and we are without a ministerial declaration with committed resources to ‘build back better.’ Remember this was the theme “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development “.

An overall impression of the Forum was provided by Deputy-Secretary of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed. “It is clear from your discussions and from recent progress reports that the left behind are still being left behind. We simply must do more — much more — to reach the most excluded and discriminated in our societies — including migrants and refugees, women and girls, and persons with disabilities. We must respond with greater urgency to the moral shame that is world hunger and to the risks facing hundreds of millions of people living in fragile and conflict affected contexts. We must channel greater investment towards the full empowerment and employment of young people, We must speed up – not fall back – on our push for gender equality. And we truly must come to terms with the requirements of SDG10 – recognizing that extreme inequality is never inevitable” Read the full text or see the Video Recording

The closing words of the President of the Economic and Social Council , H.E. Ms Mona Juul ‘We also want to strongly reaffirm our commitment to multilateralism and international solidarity in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. I think we are close to an agreement on a declaration that will be visionary, well balanced, action-oriented, and focused on the key challenges of our times. I encourage all member states to support a consensus-based adoption of the Declaration very soon – its core messages are certainly more important than ever.’ Full Text

H.E. Ms Mona Juul – President of the Economic and Social Council

The GSIJP Team – Alexis Schutz and Donatus Lili were active and engaged and captured on virtual platforms.

Alexis Schutz (Center)
Donatus Lili – Right side column, center photo

The templates in vibrant colors drew attention to the theme of the day, the crosscutting nature of the agenda and the intersection of the SDG’s.

while the Tweets send out the messages and calls for action.

HLPF Continues – July 13 – 16, 2020. Some events we are engaged in – the first event is separate from the HLPF.

Good Shepherd International’s Foundation – Cristina Duranti is a panelist at a webinar on Monday morning July 13 2020 from 1:30 –3:00 pm CEST entitled “Putting an end to greed: The interaction between respect for human rights and the protection of nature. Cristina will focus on the project in the DRC.

Link to Webinar

The following two events are within the HLPF Program – Tuesday morning July 14 at 8.00 am and Wednesday July 15 at 1.00 p.m. Registration is required.

Registration required by July 12th.
Registration Required Link to Concept Note

HLPF and Voluntary National Reviews (VNR’s)

Voluntary National Reviews (VNR’s) are scheduled to start on the afternoon of July 10th between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 pm New York time. 47 Countries are scheduled to present. The voluntary national reviews (VNRs) aim to to share national experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The presentation of the VNRs seek to strengthen policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the SDGs.

July 10, 2pm – 4pm Armenia, Ecuador, Honduras, Samoa, Slovenia.

July 13, 9am – 12pm Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda.

July 13, 2pm – 4pm Argentina, Benin, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru.

July 14, 10am – 1pm Finland, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burundi, Gambia, Russian Federation.

July 14, 3.15 – 4.15 Micronesia, North Macedonia.

July 15, 10am – 1pm Estonia, Austria, Seychelles, Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

July 15, 2pm – 4pm Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.

July 16, 9am – 1pm Comoros, DRC, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malawi, Republic of Moldova, Zambia.

July 16, 2pm – 4pm Barbados, Liberia, Solomon Islands

Check the website and click on date The session will be webcast on UN Web TV Live at the date and time or in the archives for listening at a later time.

Map showing the number of countries for each region.

This page of the website gives you the list of the 47 counties with a copy of the report that the country has provided to the United Nations.

HLPF – High Level Political Forum – is virtual this year!

The High Level Forum that reviews the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is virtual this year. It started on Tuesday morning, July 7th and will continue until Thursday July 16th. The theme this year is “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development “. The theme was determined prior to the outbreak of COVID 19 calling for a decade of accelerated action. This year the SDG’s are 5 years in operation. Has there been progress? Yes, and no, but now in these COVID 19 times progress is halted and the deep fault lines in current global systems and structures are revealed for what they are – exacerbating poverty. The world bank estimates that between 40 and 60 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty this year (2020) while inequality within and between countries is exposed and magnified.

The Sustainable Development Goals Report was launched on July 7 where it was shared that for the first time in over 20 years there is a rise in global poverty. An estimated 71 million people are expected to fall into extreme poverty.

Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020

Pages 6 – 23 are a series of graphics, one for each goal – illustrating before COVID 19 and COVID 19 Consequences. A webcast of the launch can be seen HERE with an overview of the report and a summary presentation of the graphics.

Where does one add one’s voice? Which action, program or intervention is more effective in bringing about a fair future for people and planet? How find this in the midst of multiple words, publication, side event, exhibitions, training sessions, VNR labs, and others?

One of the most interesting session that I have engage in was entitled “Towards a New Global Economic Architecture that works for the People and Planet.” The one hour session featured feminists critical thinkers from the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development, Third World Network, EURODAD and a speaker from Global Alliance for Tax Justice. Moderator: Emilia Reyes, Program Director, Policy & Budgets, Equidad de Género, Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia & Co-Convener, Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development

Speakers: Dereje Alemayehu, Executive Coordinator, Global Alliance for Tax Justice; Ranja Sengupta, Senior Researcher, Third World Network; and Maria Jose Romero, Policy and Advocacy Manager, EURODAD

The presentation really demonstrated how inequalities are continuing to grow and profits are being made on medical supplies and protections required globally during the COVID 19 pandemic while debt increases and trade rules destroy a countries ability to provide for citizens. Private investors are undermine the right to health for all. Governments and public sector services need to at the center.

The panel provided a strong call to the United Nations to take the challenge of leadership and facilitate a UN Economic Reconstruction and Systemic Reform Summit towards a New Global Economic Architecture that works for people and planet. The Principles and Calls for Action are laid out in the two page document.

Access to the recording is on YouTube This is the sort of of global action that is required to facilitate the seismic shift required to reach ‘the furthest behind first’ and ensure that every girl, women and child is assured of her/his rights to the basics for health and well being. This sort of action would favour full implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals while challenging the concentrated power and resources of some countries, including the G7, G 20 and the Bretton Wood Institutions while permitting every country to be at the table. Piecemeal implementation on the basis of single issues or favorite goals is no longer tenable. The COVID 19 Pandemic has shown us this. The world needs sustainable economies focused on people’s needs and planet care, and away from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and profits for the few.