Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 305 - July 14, 2017

A global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions launched last weeek at the United Nations in New York the report "Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017" during the High-Level Political Forum. The report provides the most comprehensive independent assessment of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“In the 2030 Agenda governments committed to a revitalized Global Partnership between States and declared that public finance has to play a vital role in achieving the SDGs. But in recent decades, the combination of neoliberal ideology, corporate lobbying, regressive fiscal policies, tax avoidance and tax evasion has led to a massive weakening of the public sector and its ability to provide essential goods and services. Read the report here

The “leave no one behind” slogan and the proposition to increase funding “from billions to trillions” made by the development banks and the International Monetary Fund are the two policy messages most commonly heard at the debate around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that started last Monday at the United Nations. “You cannot have both at the same time” commented Roberto Bissio, coordinator of Social Watch, summarizing the analysis of the first SDG. Read more

The Global Spotlight Report says that the Agenda 2030 proposal to eradicate poverty by 2030 is achievable but tax policies need to change.
“The promise made by governments to eradicate poverty by 2030 is doable if countries cooperate to fight tax evasion and capital flights” argues the independent report around the first of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read more

The Global Spotlight Report challenges the notion that “trillions of private finance” are needed to advance SDG implementation and highlights the centrality of public policies and investments, pointing out how developed countries’ refusal to any meaningful democratization of global economic governance remains the key obstacle to unlocking the necessary means of implementation.
As the SDG 17 is under review today at the HLPF 2017, civil society groups express their concern for the inadequacy of the combined MoI/AAAA framework to match the ambition of the 2030 Agenda. The worrying slogan of ‘making the business case for sustainable development’, clearly exemplifies how private finance, rather than public policies and investments, is being portrayed as the fundamental key to SDG implementation, says the Spotlight Report. Read more

The Global Spotlight Report warns against risks of Public-Private Partnerships. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), usually portrayed as a useful tool towards sustainable development, actually “involve disproportionate risks and costs for people and the public purse”, claims a global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions.
“The proponents of privatization and public-private partnerships (PPPs) present the state as impoverished and unfit to deliver, leaving the private sector as the only way to provide the necessary means for implementing the SDGs”. Read more

The experience of Civil Society shadow (or spotlight) reporting. How it is key for meaningful participation and accountability
Alternative “shadow” reporting is a well-established tool of civil society to hold governments accountable to their commitments. A number of CSOs have prepared shadow or spotlight reports to follow-up on their governments efforts to implement the 2030-Agenda. Stalled, or slipping back, is the theme that appears in many of the contributions. See the invitation here

Date: July 18, 2017 - Time: 11:15 AM to 1:00 PM
Venue: Baha'i International Community, Suite 120 (first floor)
866 UN Plaza, New York

A global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions present the Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017 report. The report provides a comprehensive independent assessment of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At the roundtable event authors of the Spotlight Report will present key findings and recommendations to participants for discussion. See the invitation here

Date: July 18, 2017 - Time: 1:15 to 2:45 PM
Venue: Baha'i International Community, Suite 120 (first floor)
866 UN Plaza, New York