COVID-19 / UN Meetings / UN Monitor
by Ana Zeballos · Published July 24, 2020 · Last modified July 28, 2020
By Barbara Adams, Carter Boyd and Karen Judd
“The world is going through a public health crisis which is turning into a global economic and social crisis. The HLPF is one of the first major intergovernmental meetings with universal participation and broad stakeholder engagement since the onset of the crisis. Read more
Blog / COVID-19 / UN Meetings
by Ana Zeballos · Published July 16, 2020 · Last modified July 21, 2020
On 16 July, this year’s virtual UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development came to an end. The HLPF is the premier UN body to monitor the annual progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) worldwide. The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated inequalities and further endangered development gains already at risk prior to the global pandemic. Millions of people globally are already suffering from hunger and poverty and now lives and livelihoods are threatened as a result of the vast socio-economic effects of COVID-19. Read more
Alert / Blog / COVID-19 / UN Meetings
by Ana Zeballos · Published July 5, 2020 · Last modified July 21, 2020
Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, member states and civil society have reported on the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Monday, July 13, 2020, 8:00 am to 9:00 am (EDT). Read more
Alert / Blog / COVID-19 / UN Meetings
by Ana Zeballos · Published July 3, 2020 · Last modified July 6, 2020
Web conversation in the run-up to the HLPF “Building better without building back a broken system”. Lessons from the global COVID-19 crisis and its impact on the SDGs. Monday, 6 July 2020, 8:30-10:00am EDT Read more
By Barbara Adams, Karen Judd and Elena Marmo
Preparations are underway for the 2020 High-level Political Forum (HLPF) and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member States are engaged in negotiations to adopt by consensus a Political Declaration and 47 have undertaken Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) for presentation at the HLPF. The UN system has issued a number of reports containing analyses and assessments of progress towards the SDGs. In addition to contributing to these processes and reports, major groups have issued a range of analyses and demands. Read more
The UN has released a three phase plan for re-opening the United Nations, releasing information on what the “new normal” will look like for Member States, UN Staff and other stakeholders. Read more
By Barbara Adams
A new phrase has gained traction in inter-governmental deliberations at the UN in the virtual world ushered in by COVID-19: “All protocols observed”. Many Member States begin their statements with this phrase that replaces the formality of recognizing lists of colleagues and Member States. Read more
Blog / COVID-19 / UN Monitor
by Ana Zeballos · Published June 11, 2020 · Last modified June 12, 2020
By Elena Marmo
Across the UN System, all hands are on deck to address the impact of COVID-19 from immediate humanitarian and health needs, to medium and longer-term socio-economic policy. Various initiatives are circling one another, raising issues of governance, reporting and accountability. Member States in the ECOSOC Operational Activities Segment explored some of these questions as they related to the UN Development System (UNDS), while in the 28 May and 2 June meetings on Financing for Development they also explored policy ideas, with an emphasis on accounting for vulnerability in macroeconomic analysis. Read more
Across the UN development system, Member States, the UN Secretariat and UN leadership are exploring the profound socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and what macroeconomic policy changes are needed to “build back better”. From UN-led programme activity responses to COVID-19 to needed policy responses both by the Financing for Development process and Member State-led initiatives, there are several opportunities to monitor these developments in the coming weeks. Read more
COVID-19 / Languages / UN Meetings / UN Monitor
by Ana Zeballos · Published May 14, 2020 · Last modified May 15, 2020
Le Secrétaire général des Nations unies, António Guterres, introduisent un rapport et évaluation des progrès de la réforme du système de développement des Nations unies, qui sera examiné lors du segment des activités opérationnelles pour le développement (OAS) de l’ECOSOC. Ce segment se déroulera virtuellement, du 19 au 22 mai et le 27 mai, et son programme officiel ainsi qu’une série de rapports sont maintenant disponibles en ligne. Lire plus
If it doesn’t challenge power, it isn’t democratic
In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Member States committed to “reach the furthest behind first”. Can this commitment be applied to governance and related policies, budgets and institutions?
Barbara Adams explores the implications for global governance of the promises of the 2030 Agenda, the practice of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) and the many and sometimes contradictory approaches and initiatives of the UN system and its ‘governors’.
This analysis highlights the need to move from the current pay-to-play orientation to one of democratic accountability for ‘people and planet’ and recommends a strengthened and re-positioned HLPF and UN General Assembly to drive momentum for the UN as the leader of rights-based multilateralism. Read more
The current status of Artificial Intelligence governance must be reshaped or it will contribute to more being left behind. The risks and shifts are outlined by Cecilia Alemany of Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) and Anita Gurumurthy of IT For Change (ITFC) in a chapter on Governance of Data and Artificial Intelligence in the 2019 Spotlight on Sustainable Development report.
Four years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda the world is off-track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But there are signs of change. New social movements have emerged worldwide. They not only challenge bad or inefficient government policies, but also share a fundamental critique of underlying social structures, power relations and governance arrangements.
For this reason, the Spotlight Report 2019 has as main topic “reshaping governance for sustainability”. It offers analysis and recommendations on the global governance that sustainability requires, as well as on how to strengthen inclusive and participatory governance to overcome structural obstacles and institutional gaps.