Invitation to contribute to the 2018 report

Social Watch invites you to participate in our renewed collective effort to make governments accountable for the ambitious promises they made us.

The 2030 Agenda, adopted in 2015 at the highest level by the United Nations encapsulates in 17 Sustainable Development Goals a vision of sustainable development without poverty, with less inequalities and more social and gender justice while respecting planetary boundaries. The Social Watch network has contributed to making those commitments accountable to the peoples by publishing and bringing to the consideration of the United Nations national reports from 47 countries and highlighting their findings in the global Spotlight reports.

The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) is the United Nations body mandated by the 2030 Agenda to have a “central role in overseeing a network of follow-up and review processes at the global level.” The HLPF will meet in New York, next July 9 to 18 for an in-depth review of Goals 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 (the so-called “environmental goals”) and SDG17 on implementation. The theme will be "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies".

Forty-eight countries will present their national reviews and there will be regional preparatory meetings in March and April and issue-specific conferences between February and June.

There are many different ways and opportunities for national groups and coalitions to contribute. See more detail on how Social Watch offers some opportunities to participate in the guidelines.

At the Social Watch secretariat we are looking forward to hear more about your plans and help put you in touch with others doing similar efforts.

Download the Guidelines for the Social Watch national reports 2018 in English, Spanish or French.

Social Watch invites you to participate in our renewed collective effort to make governments accountable for the ambitious promises they made us.

The 2030 Agenda, adopted in 2015 at the highest level by the United Nations encapsulates in 17 Sustainable Development Goals a vision of sustainable development without poverty, with less inequalities and more social and gender justice while respecting planetary boundaries. The Social Watch network has contributed to making those commitments accountable to the peoples by publishing and bringing to the consideration of the High Level Political Forum national reports from 47 countries and highlighting their findings in the global Spotlight reports.

The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) is the United Nations body mandated by the 2030 Agenda to have a “central role in overseeing a network of follow-up and review processes at the global level.” The HLPF will meet in New York, next July 9 to 18 for an in-depth review of Goals 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 (the so-called “environmental goals”) and SDG17 on implementation. The theme will be "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies".

Forty-eight countries will present their national reviews1 and there will be regional preparatory meetings in March and April and issue-specific conferences between February and June.2

Social Watch groups are invited to contribute in 2018 in two different ways that are not exclusive (groups can do both):

• a comprehensive national alternative report, looking at how your government is implementing its 2030 Agenda commitments. This can be a reaction to the official report of any of the 48 countries reporting this year, or to the official reports of previous years, many of which were not known to civil society with enough time to present their own alternative reports during the same Forum in which the official report was presented. It can also be an update of the reports of the last two previous years or a new report, whatever fits better your national lobbying and coalition-building needs. Those reports will be compiled and published in the websites of Social Watch and of the Spotlight report and their conclusions summarized in the introductory section of the global Spotlight report.

• one or several concrete analysis of policies that are relevant to the SDGs in your country, either because of their contribution to achieving the Goals or because they are an obstacle to them. These contributions will be published in the website and might also be used as boxes or examples in the global report. They can refer to any of the six main areas around which the global Spotlight report will be organized (see box below).

You can contribute with one piece on one specific policy or many. Obviously those policies will very likely refer to issues that NGOs are campaigning for (or against) and those pieces can refer also to the civil society campaigning that is going on and its objectives.

Format of national reports

Each national coalition can choose its own format and length for its national report, but in order to foster the sharing of experiences and allow for some comparisons, an “executive summary” of around 2500 words will be required. This summary will be translated into English and widely circulated, but the whole report in its original language will also be made available in the Social Watch website.

Deadlines

by 10 March:    Deadline for initial drafts on specific policies (a few paragraphs outlining the policy to be highlighted)

by 22 April: Final editing of articles and boxes to be included in the global Spotlight report

by 15 May: Final versions of national reports or their executive summaries. After that date we cannot guarantee that reports will be edited and posted online by the time of the launch in July. Reports received after that date will still be included in the website but will most likely not be published before the HLPF.

At the Social Watch secretariat we are looking forward to hearing from you about your plans for 2018 and we hope to be of help in your advocacy and campaigning.

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