Without civil society, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would not be possible. Civil society actively contributes to each of the goals, while also fulfilling an important watchdog role in the monitoring of government commitments. That’s why every July civil society representatives from around the world attend the UN High Level Political Forum in New York, the governance body for the SDGs. This year’s meeting took place from 10-19 July, 2023 and represented the halfway point between the adoption of the global goals and their 2030 deadline. Very few of the goals are on track and some targets, including commitments to protect civic freedoms are regressing below their 2015 baseline.
In particular, five of the SDGs were under review at the meeting:
- Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
- Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
- Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Goal 11: Sustainable citieis and communities
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals
38 countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews at the 2023 meeting while civil society presented their own progress reports (see the halfway report by the TAP Network). CIVICUS’ interventions had an emphasis on Goals 16 and 17, which specifically relate to civil society’s important role in sustainable development. Key targets in focus for us to include:
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Across each of these targets, attacks on civil society and civic freedoms are threatening adequate progress. During HLPF 2023 CIVICUS participated in roundtables organized by the Action for Sustainable Development coalition and the Transparency, Accountability and Participation network. We also co-organised a side event organized by the Permanent Missions of Costa Rica and Denmark on the Unmute Civil Society initiative. Further, we participated in a civil society roundtable at the South Korean Permanent Mission on SDG 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. We also engaged with the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on civic and democratic participation in Agenda 2030.
The next big moment for the Sustainable Development Goals is scheduled for 18-19 September, at the second UN SDG Summit to be held in New York.
Read More
- [Article] ‘It’s Time UN Turned Ideas to ‘UNMute’ Civil Society into Action’
- [Article] Agenda 2030: Why civic participation is key to meeting UN sustainability targets
- [Campaign] UN SDG Action Campaign (mobilisation activities for 15-25 September)
- [Grant] Host an event in September to mark the anniversary of the SDGS
- [Event] Global Peoples Assembly from 17-18 September in New York
