High Level Political Forum

The annual meeting to review progress on the 2030 Agenda is also an opportunity to strengthen partnerships to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals

NGO Major Group flagship event

The NGO Major Group flagship event at the High Level Political Forum

By Saionara König-Reis – The 2018 High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development (HLPF) took place in New York from 9-18 July, 2018. More than 2.500 participants gathered at the United Nations Headquarters to discuss “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies” and review the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 (water), 7 (energy), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 15 (life on land) and 17 (partnerships).

The opening tone of the discussions reflected the consensual acknowledgement that after 3 years into the 2030 Agenda, the pace of action is too slow: we are not doing all we can to turn the challenge into progress. It is not news the fact that there are enough financial resources in the world to achieve the SDGs, but it is an imperative to bring business, governments and high net worth people into account and stepping up for this global challenge. In this package, there is also our responsibility as citizens and consumers – of food, services, products, and culture – to support and demand sustainable and responsible practices from producers and providers.

The role of National Statistics Offices was also emphasized as a critical one to provide complete and structured data that is also digestible into easy information, knowledge and insights which can help all stakeholders make more informed decisions for SDGs implementation.

Dianova at the HLPF: more partnerships, more impact

For the third consecutive year Dianova was represented at the HLPF, contributing to the forum and strengthening our partnerships to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals.

  1. NGO Major Group: This year, Dianova International representative in New York, Saionara König-Reis, was heavily involved in the collective advocacy efforts of the NGO Major Group (NGO MG) – the official channel for participation of NGOs in the HLPF – co-leading the organization of the NGO MG flagship event and of the Social Media activities. The event highlighted tools to accelerate SDGs implementation around issues related to policy development, interlinkages, cross-cutting issues & finance for development.
  2. Partnership for the SDGs: We were glad to host in our office an informal meeting of the network Partners for Review (P4R) to brainstorm how civil society can contribute to building an even stronger and constructive network for SDGs implementation and reviewing.
  3. Mental Health: Dianova partnered with the American Psychological Association (APA) and the NGO Committee on Mental Health (NGO CMH) for a side event on “Sustainable cities for all: implementation of mental health services in low resource settings”. Saionara moderated the informative discussion on the indispensable value of mental health care to address the impact of technology, globalization and other challenges faced by individuals in cities and communities which are notably and rapidly changing.
  4. Human Rights and the “War” on Drugs: In partnership with the DRCNet Foundation and the New York NGO Committee on Drugs (NYNGOC) we supported a side event on “Human Rights Challenge: Judicial and Extrajudicial Drug War Killings in a Time of Authoritarianism”, highlighting the urgent need to put human rights at the forefront of drug policies everywhere.

The lessons and partnerships of the 2018 HLPF will help us increase our capacities to implement and review the SDGs to the best of our abilities. There are 12 years to go, and a lot to accomplish.

Partners for Review

Informal meeting of the group “Partners for Review”