Day 2, Day 3 Summary Of High Level Political Forum 2016, New York
Live updates from NY, USA
The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is the United Nations central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015.
HLPF in 2016 is the first since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The session includes voluntary reviews of 22 countries and thematic reviews of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including cross-cutting issues, supported by reviews by the ECOSOC functional commissions and other inter-governmental bodies and forums.
Here are some the main highlights of day 2 and day 3 which was concluded yesterday.CHAIR:
• H.E. Mr. Sven Jürgenson, Permanent Representative of Estonia to the UN and Vice President of ECOSOC
MODERATOR:
• Mr. Nick Ishmael Perkins, Director of SciDev.net
PANELISTS:
• H.E. Mr. Koichi Aiboshi, Assistant Vice-Minister for Global Issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
• Mr. Joseph Enyimu, Economist at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda
• Ms. Wardarina, Programme Officer from Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development/part of Women Major Group/Co-Chair of Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism
LEAD DISCUSSIONS:
• Mr. Izzet Ari, Head of Department, Environment and Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Development, Turkey
• Ms. EiliLepik, Adviser on sustainable development issues at the Strategy Unit, Government Office, Estonia
• Mr. Olivier Brochenin, Director of the Development Policy Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development of France
• Ms. Stine LiseHattestadBratsberg, CEO of PURE Consulting
For the SDGs to succeed, it is crucial that the goals and targets will be integrated in national policies and plans. The second official session of the day looked at how the countries have started to implement the SDGs. During the session Sri Lanka was commended for its proactive nature in the process of implementation of the SDS. Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator for the HLPF2016 Mr.Uchita De Soysa in his intervention added following comments,
Thank you Mr. Moderator,
1. Our work Sri Lanka towards formulating a “National Sustainable Development Roadmap” includes mapping out roles and responsibilities of national implementation of the SDGs and developing strategies for capacity building.
2. The main challenge we have faced is that the 2030 Agenda for the SDGs in its universal approach has not defined a clear implementing plan or methodology at regional and national levels.
3. In fact, this provides us an opportunity to define the national SDGs implementation mechanism and chartering our visions and pathways for the transformation.
4. We have taken a strategic position that the 17 SDGs are thematic clusters and that the 169 targets provide a better focus for national sustainable development interventions.
5. Therefore, we have commenced a convergent systems linkages mapping process between and amongst the 169 targets and the 400+ mandated implementing agencies – not the 50+ line ministries.
6. We have made significant progress already in an exhaustive mapping process that we believe will lead towards building new rationales for national policy planning and sectoral selection for investing in development programmes.
7. We have also commenced transcending beyond inter-agency policy fragmentation by facilitating inter-agency processes and working closely with the National Planning Department to ensure Sustainable Development is integrated into the mainstream public policy, strategy and development investment programmes.
8. With a ground breaking model for implementing SDGs in hand very soon, we are looking forward to sharing our experience with other countries and extending our cooperation in the transformation which must be at global level.
9. As an example, we are partnering with ESCAP in developing an analytical framework for implementing SDG6 in Sri Lanka and will be demonstrating the national application experience at a regional workshop in October this year.
10. I must also state that when translating the 169 targets into a national context, we are setting much higher levels of benchmarking for baseline setting. We will be adding our own targets as well.
11. For example, $1.25 for poverty eradication cannot satisfy national aspirations for high wellbeing levels of all our citizens.
12. We will be setting higher standards for targets and indicators, and all public sector ministries and agencies will soon be mandated to integrate all three dimensions of sustainable development in in their planning and implementation of all projects and programmes.
13. In conclusion of my brief remarks, I would like to state that the National sustainable development reporting will be based on a set of standards, guidelines and indicators developed nationally to reflect national aspirations for wellbeing and prosperity of all citizens.
Thank you!
Furthermore, this session identified useful tools and mechanisms for national integration, and shed light on the challenges faced in coordination within national governments and also how to enhance the role of parliaments and other institutions and include all stakeholders in the process.
Vertical cooperation – local authorities and national governments working together for implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
CHAIR:
• H.E. Mr. Frederick MusiiwaMakamureShava, Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the UN and Vice President of ECOSOC
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
• Mr. KadirTopbaş, Mayor of Istanbul and President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
MODERATOR:
• Mr. Peter Wollaert, Associated Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Managing Director of CIFAL Flanders
PANELLISTS:
• Ms. PatríciaIglecias, State Secretary for Environment for the State of Sao Paulo
• Mr. Hyuk-Sang Sohn, Professor at Kyung Hee University and President, Korean Association of International Development & Cooperation (KAIDEC)
LEAD DISCUSSANTS:
• Mr. Stephan Contius, Head of Division at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany
• H.E. Ms. Rosemarie G. Edillon, Deputy Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippines
• Ms. Paddy Torsney, Permanent Observer of the Office of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to the UN
The third official session of the day was focused on pathways essential for successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Translating national plans and intermediate targets into policy interventions, reflecting synergies and achieving the development results at the local level is vital. For the 2030 Agenda to become a reality, success will depend on effective local action. The moderator of the session Mr. Peter Volat initiated the session directing the attention to be focused on what we are doing right/ and what we are doing wrong?
Key Comments:
Prof. Nyuk Sang Sohn, South Korea:
Highlighted the success and limitations of South Korea’s SDG implementation process where the Ministry of Environment plays a large role. They have downgraded the Sustainable Development Commission(SDC) to a ministerial commission. Implementation process still seems to have limitations when addressing issues beyond the environmental concerns.
Patricia Iglesias ,Brasil:
The representative from the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil stretched on the difficulties Sao Paulo has come across being a part of a federal government with a large population. Sao Paulo produces 1/3 of the Brazils GDP and houses 1/5 of Brazils population. Therefore, the level of implementation of SDGs are driven based on these parameters which imposes greater challenges when it comes to leaving no one behind. She further highlighted the efforts to involve municipalities on the vertical cooperation where still the involvement level is at only 8%.
Country intervention by Philippines:
Representative from Philippines highlighted the importance of engaging the authorities at sub national level and also indicated that the local governments have the power to deliver the SDGs implementation with proper coordination. She further discussed the effect of election cycles for the possible coordination efforts. Philippines with its three year cycles have been running into limitations when politicians are more concerned with re-election process rather than focusing on long term development plans.
In conclusion the major groups interventions highlighted the need of active role of local governments/authorities and communities at the grass-root level among others. The challenge is not how to localize the Agenda, but how to ‘glocalise’ the Agenda.
Challenges in mobilizing means of implementation at the national level (Financing – Technology – Capacity building
CHAIR:
• H.E. Mr. Hector Alejandro Palma Cerna, Deputy-Permanent Representative of Honduras to the UN and Vice President of ECOSOC
PRESENTATION OF THE CO-CHAIRS’ SUMMARY OF THE STI FORUM:
• H.E. Mr. MachariaKamau, Co-Chair, STI Forum
MODERATOR:
• Mr. Manuel Montes, Senior Advisor of Finance and Development at the South Centre
PANELLISTS:
• Mr. Paulo Gadelha, President of Fundação Oswaldo Cruz and member of the 10-Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism
• Mr. Felipe Castro, Technical Secretary for the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda, Colombia
LEAD DISCUSSANTS:
• H.E. Mr. MawussiDjossouSemondji, Expert Minister to the Presidency of Togo
• Mr. Paul Gulleik Larsen, Project Manager in the UN Section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
• Mr. Sun Chengyong, Counsellor at the Department of Science and Technology for Social Development, Ministry of Science and Technology of China
• Mr. David O’Connor, Representative to the UN, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Brief on Multi Stakeholder Meeting for Science Technology and Innovation.
The speaker highlighted the points made on the Science Policy Interface the evening before. In order to make sure that no one is left behind, the science, technology and innovation sector is integral but, “It is like a two edge sword that needed to be weld carefully in achieving Agenda 2030.” Stated the co-chair of the STI FORUM.
The forum was focused on the role of Science Technology and Innovation in achieving sustainable development goals. The forum included agents from more than 80 countries. Every year the forum is expected to gain momentum and drive the implementation of the SDGs. Speaker further highlighted the importance of the Social Sciences being included within the brackets of science element and also be incorporated in innovation. The ambition of SDGs is impressive and will require sizable investments in a broad spectrum of Science, Technology and Innovation.
UN interagency task force of STI for SDGs plays a key role in committing to achieve SDGs while incorporating Science Technology and Innovation. These efforts are intended to maximize the results on the way to where we intend to be in 2030.
Second sub-session:
The introductory session highlighted the notion that all countries should industrialized. The moderator further emphasized the importance of the linkage of Universities to product commercialization. International system talks of patenting, intellectual property but the developing countries are still struggling to solve the local problems.
Paulo Gadelha, Brasil
STI is expected to be a main driver in achieving SDGs. Industrial and STI policies interact within the GOAL 9 of SDGs. Brazil has increased its Masters and Doctoral programs. A $10 Million effort countering Zika virus. Steps such as these indicate the increased attention towards using STI tools.
More successful areas of innovation and policy applications in Brasil is health. Emphasizing that health is a basic right, the health sector contributes to nearly 10% of the GDP. Bio, Digital, Nano, Neuro technologies greatly contribute to the improvement in the field of Health. Many decades’ innovation was not an element of public health. Now it has become an integral part. Monitoring devices to vaccination to vaccinations themselves incorporate new technology. The increased health problems have led to linkage of science and technology and industry.
Felipe Castro, Colombia
High middle income country Colombia has managed to half poverty in seven years but challenges of disparity still exists. It is expected that the mobilization of resources could come from the government. Representative also encouraged international cooperation in making sure there be less instances of wrongdoings such as tax evasion occur in Colombia. In response the moderator of the session encouraged Tax corporation of the countries.
The South-South cooperation is another highly effective process where the common problems can be identified and customized solutions are possible. However, the technological gap should be solved within the country to a certain extent by tapping in new technologies for example, in agriculture.
Country intervention from Togo:
Combat tax evasion in partnership with the member countries of Africa. Tax share has been increased from 14-15% to 20% during last three years which is a significant progress. There have been steps taken to reduce the increase of debt. Public-Private partnerships were also encouraged specially in the energy generation sector.
Countries like Togo who have endured crisis are putting in additional efforts while the financial resources are still a challenge.
Country Intervention by China:
The intervention highlighted incorporation of green technology and sharing the success stories with the rest of the world. China further has a green technology bank to further these efforts.
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