Echoes in the press
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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, business-friendly 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. |
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On the last official day of the UN High-Level Political Forum, civil society express concern that ‘vision without implementation is hallucination’. |
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23) International: The Civil Society Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development publishes its 2017 report, “Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017: Reclaiming Policies for the Public—Privatization, Partnerships, Corporate Capture, and Their Impact on Sustainability and Inequality—Assessments And Alternatives.” The report says, “The proponents of privatization and public-private partnerships (PPPs) use these trends to present the private sector as the most efficient way to provide the necessary means for implementing the SDGs. But many studies and experiences by affected communities have shown that privatization and PPPs involve disproportionate risks and costs for the public sector and can even exacerbate inequalities, decrease equitable access to essential services and jeopardize the fulfilment of human rights. Therefore, it is high time to counter these trends, reclaim public policy space and take bold measures to strengthen public finance, rethink PPPs and weaken the grip of corporate power on people’s lives.” |
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The Czech branch of the social watchdog group, Social Watch, has given a mixed appreciation of the Czech Republic’s moves to foster a more equitable and fairer country and world over the last year. The grouping of NGOs praised moves to increase the minimum wage and to take some steps to dealing with those profiting from citizens falling into the debt trap. However, it also highlighted the government’s failure to push through a bill on social housing, the continued wide gender gap on pay, and the high level of Czech arms exports to dubious regimes and low levels of development aid. The assessment was carried around in the context of the United Nations’ 2030 strategy for sustainable development. |
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Civil Society activists critique first week of deliberations at High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development New York City, 14 July 2017: With the first week of deliberations at the 2017 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development coming to a close this Friday at the UN in New York, civil society activists are criticizing a piecemeal approach to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Especially worrisome to activists is a growing gap between aspirational goals and a lack of proper and comprehensive means of implementation. |
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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). |
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At the High-Level Political Forum which takes place at the United Nations in New York several events, for instance an SDG Business Forum, are devoted to the critical role of business and public-private partnerships (PPPs) in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A new report states that various forms of privatisation and corporate capture have become obstacles to implement the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs but many civil society organisations and trade unions warn in their joint report Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2017 that the various forms of privatisation and corporate capture have become obstacles to implement the 2030 Agenda and its goals. |
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Reclaiming policies for the public: Privatization, partnerships, corporate capture and their impact on sustainability and inequality – assessments and alternatives |
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GAAM has contributed a short article about aerotropolis projects to the Spotlight Report on Sustainable Development 2017: Reclaiming Policies for the Public. The report, by the Reflection Group, a global alliance of civil society organizations and networks was launched on 10th July and is being discussed at the High-Level Political Forum, the United Nations’ central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. |
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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). The 2017 edition focuses on privatization, partnerships, corporate capture and the impact they have on sustainability and inequality. The articles and textboxes cover all sectors of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. According to the report, it is time to counter privatization trends, reclaim public policy space and take bold measures to strengthen public finance, regulate or reject PPPs, and weaken the grip of corporate power on people’s lives. These are indispensable prerequisites to achieve the SDGs and to turn the vision of the transformation of our world, as proclaimed in the title of the 2030 Agenda, into reality. The report is available for download here. |
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