+ 60 participants from all over the world, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, met between February 17-20 in Bogota, Colombia, to be part of the meeting.
Context
The Global Forum for National SDGs Advisory Bodies is a network that seeks to generate collective knowledge on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the national and sub-national level, through several areas of commitment to councils, commissions and similar bodies of sustainable development.
The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), together with the Finnish Commission for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the Stakeholder Forum, have founded a network of Sustainable Development Councils and similar organisms. The initiative was launched by the German and Finnish governments during the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2019, in New York. The network aims to accelerate action on sustainable development at local and national levels through the collaboration of sustainability councils with decision makers, by supporting collective knowledge for the formulation of national sustainable development policies.
For further information, check out the initiative’s website:
Purpose of the meeting
The Global Forum for National SDGs Advisory Bodies started the Decade of Action with an inaugural meeting of its network members from around the world. During this first meeting, the Forum’s network members were expected to identify demands and capacities to achieve the SDGs, and provide potential paths and skills for accelerated implementation. Likewise, to elaborate action roadmaps for the implementation of concrete projects and programs on SDGs in member countries.
The space allowed all network members to engage in implementation through the structured exchange of experiences.
THE DECADE OF ACTION FOR THE SDGS
The expiration date to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs is in ten years. Therefore, in order to accelerate their implementation process, UN Member States gathered at the SDG Summit during the High-Level Political Forum of the United Nations in 2019, adopted the Political Declaration (A/RES/74/4). The Declaration, entitled “Gearing up for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”, states that 2020 is called to initiate a “decade for action” for the SDGs.
Participants
The participants were mostly be members of the Global Forum´s network: Existing national councils for sustainable development, national commissions, SDG government units and other similar multi-stakeholder agencies that are providing their advice and support to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Forum recognizes that the consultative bodies are presented in many ways with regard to their formal status, their position in the institutional landscape, their mandate and their modus operandi.
Public event
As part of the inaugural meeting of the Global Forum for National SDGs Advisory Bodies, we hosted the public event The Decade of Action and Implementation of the SDGs locally.
The aim during this interactive dialogue was to identify actions that the different sectors are carrying out to promote sustainable development in Colombia. The various initiatives they have led, were illustrated and shared, addressing demands, commitments and limits of urban, regional and national implementation.
We had Irena Zubcevic, from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Patti Londoño, Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia; Günther Bachmann, Secretary General of the German Council for Sustainable Development; Philipp Schönrock, Director of Cepei; Juan Daniel Oviedo, Director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), among others.
👉Download the agenda here