GPPAC calls for increased action on SDG16+

This week Member States meet at the United Nations in New York to review the progress of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on peaceful, just and inclusive societies, and Goal 10 on inequalities. GPPAC will be present at this High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, with a delegation advocating for much more attention to SDG 16+, and the need for greater political will and commitment towards peaceful societies.
 
Today we are launching our new policy brief “Peaceful societies – the orphaned SDG target?” and 2-page summary of key recommendations that capture our key findings and recommendations to drive forward the peace agenda within the SDG goals. 

The policy brief builds on two practice-driven participatory assessments of the changes brought about by SDG 16 and related peace goals (called SDG 16+) at national and local levels. These assessments, undertaken in Ghana with WANEP and in Cameroon with Women in Alternative Action Cameroon (WAA Cameroon), provide one clear message:  There is not enough progress on SDG 16 and all other related SDG targets that drive peace, just and inclusive societies.

The two reports offer a localized qualitative analysis of SDG 16+ progress and government – CSO partnerships, and include more specific findings and recommendations for each country. Examples are the call for inclusive talks with leaders of the Anglophone armed and political movements and the need to strengthen inclusive, legitimate and accountable public institutions in the Cameroon report; and the recommendations for an integrated and coordinated approach to peace goals, setting up a peace fund, and significantly increased  focus on anti-corruption in the Ghana report.
 
The GPPAC delegation to the High Level Political Forum is composed of Justine Kwachu Ngum Kumche, Executive Director of WAA Cameroon, Albert Yelyang, National Coordinator for Wanep Ghana, Sharon Baghwan Rolls, Regional Representative for GPPAC Pacific and Chairperson of GPPAC, Khaled Emam, Executive Manager of Justice Call for Rights and Development Egypt, and colleagues from the Global Secretariat. They will jointly advocate for:

• More attention and action on SDG 16+ as a key enabler for all other SDGs,
• Locally-led integrated implementation of SDG 16+ in country,
• Supporting follow-up and broadening SDG 16+ related work across the GPPAC network, and
• Supporting broader coalitions of CSOs to work towards these goals.

To drive this message, GPPAC supports the joint civil society declaration on SDG 16+ and calls on all those working in the field of peacebuilding and conflict prevention to endorse it. While in New York GPPAC will also participate in a number of key side-events:

• The ‘Voices of SDG 16+’ roundtable and policy forum on 11 July, organised with the International Peace Institute and Saferworld among others, promoting local strategies for tackling  SDG 16+ and promoting peaceful, just and inclusive societies;
• An event with the TAP Network on 10 July will showcase best practices from local civil society experiences with our experiences from Cameroon, Ghana and Egypt.
• An event taking a broader look at what conditions are needed to build peaceful societies with the Baha’i International on the 11th of July
• Stocktaking for the global SDG 16+ community on next steps, co-organised with CSPPS, TAP Network and others on the 17th of July.

For more information, please e-mail Pascal Richard, Managing Adviser Policy and Advocacy.
 
Will you also be at the HLPF and would you like to connect while there? Please get in touch with Maja Vitas or Kristina Miletic.