Partners for Review -

IMPRESSIONS FROM THE CONFERENCE

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  Clemens Helbach

  “It is great to see that the diversity of participants and the unconventional venues led to fruitful discussions. I am sure that Partners for Review will help the participating countries with the review and follow-up process of the 2030-Agenda.”

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  Maureen Bakunzi

  “I am honored to be part of the Partners for Review Process and network; and for me… it has been a tremendously enriching experience!”

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  Naiara Costa

  “Partners for Review is a network that gathers actors from a diversity of sectors, backgrounds and from different regions of the world, all connected by the commitment to make the review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs a meaningful tool for transformation. It has been a great opportunity to share experiences and to bring some recommendations on how to strengthen civil society and stakeholder engagement on follow up processes at all levels”.

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  Angela Escallón Emiliani

  “We had a very productive, intellectual, actual and promising meeting in Bogota. We were people for all over the world where no borders or distances were present. Our own and common effort is to be able to share experiences and to learn fast about how to promote the new agenda for the world thought the ODG. We care for all. We work for all. We know that working is the only way to achieved a sunstinable and peace world.”

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  Florence Syevuo

  “Partners for Review 2nd Network Meeting: A transnational Multi-Stakeholder Network for a Robust Review Process was a very informative and yet unique platform in advancing critical multi stakeholder SDGs Implementation Processes. The main agendas included perspectives on strengthening Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) at both the Global and at National level drawing experiences and lessons learned from last years. Advancement of Non State Actors engagements in collaboration with Governments and capital lead documentations of the VNR processes topped the recommendations. At a national level, the meeting facilitated sharing of experiences on policy coherence and different government approaches, participants recommended strongly leaving no one behind by engaging all stakeholders and especially community lead initiatives.
  Partners for Review is a transnational platform advancing global, regional and national lead vision on the World We Want as the 2030 Agenda stipulates."

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  Thomas Gass

  “What I take away from this is how important it is to involve parliaments in the review of the SDGs on national level. The Parliaments can be supported by stakeholder groups and in doing so we separate the implementation responsibility from the review responsibility and we ensure that implementation can continue irrespective of the political party in power.”

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  Sena Alouka

  “I think the P4R is one of the best development school I have attended in the past 15 years. It was so well designed that even for those attending the first time, mechanisms were there to ensure full integration. Good to have all stakeholders at the same table, amazing to share good moments in exotic setting with development practitioners from all over the world and most stunning for me, was the extraordinary session led by one lady, living with handicap…

  I learned a lot and made great connections. And believe me, 4 days after I went back home I organised a special training session for the CSO community in Togo on the lessons learned from the Bogota meeting. More importantly, I was received by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning to whom I gave an oral well detailed report from the meeting. He later recommended me to meet the VNR focal point, with whom we discussed point by point, some of the key principles for a successful VNR, as per my new insights from Bogota. My world and that of my comrades CSO will not be the same hence onward. I look forward to having Togo pilot all the good practices from the P4R initiative. Again, thanks for this great opportunity. Together stronger."

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  Enid Chaverri-Tapia

  "I am extremely honored and grateful with Partners for Review (P4R) for letting me be a part of this important network that enables people to share their experiences in order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. The friendly and open methodologies encourage people to speak openly about their achievements and concerns.

  I am also very proud to be from a country that strongly believes that sustainable development is the best formula to create a better world. Costa Rica, a country with no army, highlights the importance of peace efforts to guarantee the happiness that the world is seeking.

  Costa Rica became the first country in the world to sign a national pact for the achievement of the SDGs. The Pact promotes the improvement of the quality of life of its population through the joint efforts of public institutions, private sector, academia, general public and the United Nations System. It encourages the mobilization of resources available for the achievement of a better quality of life. Furthermore, it strengthens institutional capacity for the development of policies, programs and citizens' accountability towards achieving its goals.

  I do support and reiterate my gratefulness to P4R for their great endeavor, facilitating the dialogue among the international community, where “no one is left behind.”

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  Camilo Gamba

  “Development actors are afraid of data and this cannot happen anymore: Advocacy, implementation actions and follow-up and accountability initiatives must be based on data. However, few of them are comfortable using data to do so. Building capacities between civil society and other actors to use data is imperative. From Data Republica Cepei is trying to support that (and I think most of the P4R participants were interested).

  The HLPF is at risk to become a ‘beauty contest’. It’s our duty to prevent that: The voluntarism of the VNRs and their internal structure to be presented can cause a ‘moral hazard’ scenario in which governments are just accomplishing with the annual appointment to show the best of their SDG implementation processes. Understanding the review as a cycle that involves and articulates national, regional and global actors and scenarios is vital to keep the political and technical importance of the HLPF.

  Governments: Being reviewed is not the end of the world! The HLPF is not a beauty contest, neither a pillory for governments. The Forum must be seen as the global scenario to give political and technical guidance to governments and other stakeholders for implementation. For example in 2016 HLPF, Cepei commented the Colombia’s VNR about the need to assure the multi-stakeholder participation in the SDG processes, and the government is currently moving in that direction."

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  Daniel Jüttner

  "For me, Partners for Review was a very good and interesting experience. I think the common safe space provided for governments, non-governmental organizations and others is very valuable. An additional asset of Partners for Review is that it is a true expert meeting, were the people meet who do the actual work on the 2030 Agenda in their respective countries. I sincerely hope that the common learning experience delivered valuable insights, which will translate into politics and praxis."

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  Max van Deursen

  "The P4R meeting in Bogotá was a very fruitful meeting for me, below some of my main take-aways:

  In the session on “leaving no one behind”, I got reminded how important it is to keep this theme alive and to invest in capacity building to make it a reality. The talks on data gaps showed how the private sector can play an important role in getting more comprehensive and up to date data. This links to the inspiring round table where we discussed integrated reporting, and how this can contribute to policy coherence and give a better picture of the stage of implementation of the 2030 Agenda. In the discussions on stakeholder engagement, I found it interesting to hear other countries experiences in involving parliament and youth in the review process. For example, how the youth in Togo managed to organise a big youth event on the SDGs with two ministers present using only WhatsApp, that’s something the youth in the Netherlands can learn from! The P4R meeting managed to create an interactive, creative and safe space which led meaningful discussions and has brought us forward in making the review process better."

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  Edward Massaquoi

  "I left the Partners 4 Review network meeting in Columbia, very upbeat and optimistic in terms of the progress that other countries and, in particular, Sierra Leone have made in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This was a very unique opportunity for me juxtapose our experiences and lessons learned against other countries and thus validate the work we as civil society are doing back home. I am very encouraged! It was also an insightful platform for learning how no one will be left behind. I am very grateful. I expect that P4R should endeavor to provide access to all presentations made during the two days network meeting. Thank you P4R for this wonderful opportunity."

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  John Romano

  "The Partners for Review Network is an timely and indispensable initiative that has enormous potential to support efforts around monitoring and reporting for the SDGs. With such a limited time and space for “official” reporting at the HLPF each year, I hope that the P4R Network can serve as an ongoing informal platform to share experiences to overcome challenges around SDG reporting – both for government reports, and for greater civil society engagement. Ensuring that this reporting process is robust, broad and inclusive is critical to the success and credibility of the VNRs and the HLPF itself – and the P4R initiative can play an important role for building momentum around SDG reporting, and providing a space to continue to learn from one another. It was great to see such a wide range of experts and stakeholders – from governments and civil society – come together at this Bogotá meeting to discuss these complex issues in such an interactive and thought-provoking environment. Not only did I learn a lot on the substantive issues around VNRs and SDG reporting, but I’ll definitely be using some of the tools and approaches from this P4R meeting in our own trainings and workshops going forward!

  Thanks so much again, and looking forward to engage with P4R more closely in the weeks/months ahead!"

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  Martin Tsounkeu

  "The Bogotá P4R network meeting was a special opportunity for me to share experience differently on a subject that matters the same for all globally, the Sustainable Development Goals. My take-away was the innovative format of the event, which showed the power of simplicity and of creative expression in building and sharing knowledge. It was encouraging, with regard to the initiative that we have taken in Cameroon and Tanzania, as CSOs African Working Group (AWG) on Sustainable Development, to contextualize the SDGs and position African citizens to play a key role in the implementation and monitoring process, based on a Monitoring Review and Accountability Framework (MRAF), with simplified indicators."