SIDE EVENT
Inclusive Participation as Key Driver and Accelerator of SDG 16 and SDG 10
CSO Best Practices and Lessons in Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Venue: UN Conference Centre, Meeting Room C-D
Date and time: Thursday 28 March 2019, 12:15-1:45 PM
Organizers: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangkok Regional Hub; Government of Mongolia; Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA); Asia Development Alliance (ADA); Asia-Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (AP-RCEM)
Participants: The side event was attended by 70 registered participants. Agenda:
The discussion was moderated by Mr. Anselmo Lee, Founder and Senior Adviser, Asia Development Alliance (ADA), and Asia Democracy Network (ADN). Opening remarks were provided by Mr. Jinho Song, Vice-President, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). Speakers included:
• Ms. Doljinsuren Jambal, Head of Development Policy Planning Division, National Development Agency (NDA), Mongolia
• Ms. Jazminda Lumang, Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (AP-RCEM)
• Mr. Zia Ur Rehman, Pakistan Development Alliance (PDA)
• Mr. Sovanna Ry, Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC)
Wrap-up and closing remarks were given by Ms. Wardarina, Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), and Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (AP-RCEM); and Mr. Nicholas Booth, Governance and Peacebuilding Team Leader a.i., UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub.
Key points from the discussions:
Challenges to the effective implementation of SDGs 10 and 16 are well identified across Asia-Pacific. Civic space is shrinking and democratic values are under attack in a majority of countries of the region, except in Timor-Leste and New Zealand. Both social and economic inequalities are rising, disproportionately affecting the poor and marginalized communities. Importantly, there are structural barriers and worrying imbalances between public and private interests (e.g. corruption, land grabbing, patriarchy and other ways in which people and communities are “systematically and intentionally” left behind) that hamper the fair and equal distribution of development dividends.

Several case studies from Cambodia, Mongolia, Pakistan and the Philippines illustrated that the SDGs – and in particular its goals 5, 10 and 16 – constitute a very important entry point for CSO-government engagement, to hold governments accountable, to open or create spaces for engagement including with other stakeholders, and to be used for advocacy and awareness-raising for the SDGs. SDG 10, it is hoped, “is the transformative goal that can finally challenge the status quo.”
However, despite the strong emphasis in the Voluntary National Review (VNR) reports on being inclusive and participatory, there are mixed feelings and uneven practices among countries in the region. It was emphasized that citizens-led monitoring of the VNR process, in particular, can help ensure governments do not only selectively report on development progress. The establishment of the coordination and integration mechanisms has helped to avoid creating silos during the implementation phase but is not consistently open to civil society’s meaningful participation.
In addition, the lack of comparable, qualitative and disaggregated official statistics for SDGs 10 and 16, combined with risks related to the lack of political will or data manipulation, have led to the limited understanding and effective implementation of policy solutions tackling the root causes of inequality. These data gaps need to be addressed, together with the provision of steady financial and technical resources, as well as capacity support for government representatives. Efforts to localize indicators and to include people-driven data and data specifically on vulnerable and marginalized groups (e.g. young women, refugees, stateless persons) were lauded.
There are several avenues for meaningful and innovative engagement in support of the effective implementation of SDGs 10 and 16. Promoting volunteerism as a positive force for change, as well as grassroots and local-level engagement, can provide people the agency for their own development and expand spaces, putting the tools in people’s hands to address key development challenges. A multi- stakeholder and integrated approach that includes the private sector, not only through CSR initiatives or financial support, can also contribute to better integrate the SDGs. In addition, promoting NGO accountability can, in turn, also support CSOs to play their important watchdog role to ensure transparency and accountability of governments. Working with NHRIs to promote protection mechanisms for journalists and environmental defenders, in particular, and using the full potential (while understanding the associated risks) of online spaces and technology-based solutions were also mentioned during the discussions.