SDG 17 - Partnerships to achieve the Goal

On the eve of the (virtual) United Nations 75th anniversary event and the Global Goals Week authors presented this year's global civil society report Spotlight on Sustainable Development.

 

If you missed the virtual launching event you can watch the recording here.

Find the report & further information here.

 

Global Civil Society Report on the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs

New York, 18 September 

The COVID-19 crisis and the worldwide measures to tackle it have deeply affected communities, societies and economies around the globe. The implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been put at high risk in many countries. COVID-19 is a global wake-up call for enhanced international cooperation and solidarity.

But calls for “building back better” by just pushing the reset button will not change the game. We need structural changes [...]

By Roberto Bissio, Social Watch

 

On 26 February 2020, US President Donald Trump waved a paper with maps and figures in front of the cameras and announced that “the risk [of the new coronavirus] to the American people remains very low” and that “whatever happens, we're totally prepared”.[1]

The paper shown to substantiate the decision to delay any immediate action was the Global Health Security Index (GHSI),[2] an analytical tool intended to help “countries understand each other’s [...]

By Barbara Adams, Global Policy Forum

 

Multilateral solidarity is gaining traction as the slogan for mobilizing support for international cooperation and for the UN. Is it replacing or merely renaming cross-border obligations - many of which have been enshrined over decades in UN treaties, conventions and agreements, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in their implementation?

Why do we seek another name at this time? It seems that reaffirmation is less attractive than invention in this [...]

By Bodo Ellmers, Global Policy Forum Europe

 

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a combined triple crisis: the response to the health crisis quickly triggered an economic and financial crisis, as governments locked down the economy and financial market actors panicked in the early weeks of the crisis. Contrary to the transatlantic financial crisis of 2008-2009, the unregulated global banking system is not at the centre of the triple crisis. Nevertheless, insufficient financial regulation and inadequate international financial architecture aggravated [...]

By Kate Donald and Ignacio Saiz, Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR)

 

The imperative to redistribute economic power and resources was already urgent long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the intense concentration of wealth and corporate power was an issue explored at length in the 2018 Spotlight Report. However, as with so much else, the pandemic has magnified existing trends, shining a harsh spotlight on how extreme and unjust the status quo has become, and also how the [...]

By Carilee Osborne and Pamela Choga, Institute for Economic Justice

 

South Africa was initially praised for getting ahead of the pandemic by beginning preparations before cases were confirmed, and instituting a strict lockdown to slow the spread of infections. However, the government failed to institute adequate measures to safeguard people’s incomes, protect their well-being and support the economy. The socioeconomic impact has swiftly outweighed the impact of the virus itself, with the economy expected to contract by at least [...]

By Pablo Iturralde, Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales (Ecuador)*

 

In Ecuador, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most devastating in the world, severely exacerbated by IMF-backed policies of austerity and structural adjustment implemented before the crisis. Yet, even now, Ecuador is undergoing further IMF-mandated structural reforms that dismantle its health system and suppress economic growth, just when it is necessary to increase public investment and delay fiscal austerity measures to overcome the crisis caused [...]

Global civil society report assesses structural obstacles and institutional gaps in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda

New York, 8 July 2019: “The world is off-track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most governments have failed to turn the transformational vision of the 2030 Agenda into real transformational policies. Even worse, xenophobia and authoritarianism are on the rise in a growing number of countries.”

“The implementation of the 2030 Agenda is not just a matter of better policies. It requires more holistic and more sweeping shifts in how power is vested, including through institutional and governance [...]

By Neth Daño, ETC Group

As the international community reels from massive inequality in wealth and aspires to leave no one behind by 2030, the world stands at the brink of a technological revolution. Frontier technologies are sweeping across the land like wildfire and leaving unprecedented disruptions in their trails. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming not just the landscape of manufacturing and services sectors, but revolutionizing every aspect of life and work. Automation and robotics are displacing jobs [...]