By IDA

 - April 17, 2019

April 2019

On this page:

  1. Register! Join us for a webinar on providing practical information on how to engage in the July 2019 HLPF!
  2. Apply! Seeking expert speakers to represent the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities at the July 2019 HLPF
  3. Let us know! Will you attend the HLPF?
  4. Save the date! Registration will open for the July 2019 High-level Political Forum on the 1st of May
  5. News! We are speaking for the first time at the Financing for Development Forum!
  6. Information! Preparatory work undertaken by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities towards the July 2019 HLPF
  7. Information! High-level Political Forum Draft Programme
  8. Information! ECOSOC Partnership Forum

1. Register! Join us for a webinar on providing practical information on how to engage in the July 2019 HLPF!

A webinar will be held on the 29th of April from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST (New York time) to provide practical information about how to engage in the July 2019 High-level Political Forum. Information will be provided on the following HLPF topics:

  • Welcome by Jose Viera, Representative of the SGPwD
  • Registration
  • Speaking opportunities
  • UN funding availability
  • Participation in the Voluntary National Reviews
  • Information on the official submission paper and side event of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities
  • Other planned activities

The webinar will be accessible with International Sign interpretation and real-time captioning. The webinar recording will be shared later for those who cannot join. Click here to register for the webinar.

2. Apply! Seeking expert speakers to represent the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities at the July 2019 HLPF

The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities is seeking expert speakers for the July 2019 HLPF. Below is information regarding applications to become eminent speakers to contribute to one of the various themative roundtable discussions (e.g., education, employment, climate change, reducing inequalities, peaceful and inclusive societies) during the first five days (8-12th July) of the HLPF session.

  • Persons with disabilities must apply by filling out the application form below.
  • The application form was developed along the lines of the customized UN form.
  • Only those applicants, who fill out the form will be considered.
  • Those experts, who are selected will be the official nominees of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities put forward to the UN to be considered.
  • Final speakers will be chosen by the UN. 

Apply to be an expert speaker by filling out this form

All speaker applications will be reviewed by a Selection Committee. We are inviting interested individuals to become part of the Selection Committee. Those who apply to be speakers will not be allowed to be part of the Selection Committee. The mandate of the Selection Committee is to review applications received and finalize the list of speakers representing the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities. Selection Committee Members will have their first selection call on the 30th of April at 8:00 AM EST (New York time). 

Apply to be part of the Selection Committee by filling out this form.

3. Let us know! Will you attend the HLPF?

Please let us know if you intend to participate at the HLPF by filling out this short SurveyMonkey.

4. Save the date! Registration will open for the July 2019 High-level Political Forum on the 1st of May

Registration to the July 2019 High-level Political Forum will be open on the 1st of May. Kindly read the instructions below to register.

If you intend to participate on behalf of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities and your organization has ECOSOC consultative status with the United Nations, you will be able to self-register. 

If you intend to participate on behalf of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities but your organization does not have ECOSOC consultative status, kindly inform us by emailing HLPF2019 [at] ida-secretariat.org () and we will assist with your registration. 

The deadline to register is 31 May 2019. 

5. News! We are speaking for the first time at the Financing for Development Forum! 

The fourth Financing for Development (FfD) Forum is currently taking place from 15 to 18 April 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event brings together ministers, high-level officials from ministries of finance, foreign affairs and development cooperation, Executive Directors of the World Bank and IMF, as well as senior officials from the UN system, including the other stakeholders, such as the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities. Click here for details on the programme. This event marks the first time that a person with a disability is an official presenter at a FfD Forum: Jose Viera, permanent representative of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, will speak as a lead discussant on domestic public resources in the context of persons with disabilities.

The annual FfD Forum results in inter-governmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations that are fed into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. This year the agreed conclusions and recommendations should be adopted on 18 April. Persons with disabilities are explicitly referenced five times and also have inexplicit references. This outcome means that Member States recognize and acknowledge persons with disabilities in the financing for development dialogue. A comprehensive update will be released on the FfD page after the conclusion of the Forum. 

6. Information! Preparatory work undertaken by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities towards the July 2019 HLPF

All Regional Forums on Sustainable Development were attended by representatives of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities
The Regional Forums on Sustainable Development for the European, Asia-Pacific, and Arab regions have all taken place. The Regional Forums on Sustainable Development for the African and Latin American and Caribbean regions will take place in the coming weeks. All forums have been, or will be, attended by representatives of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities. Regional reports will be compiled and posted on the IDA website at a later date.

Official submission on behalf of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities to the High-level Political Forum entitled: “Ensuring inclusion and equality for persons with disabilities: education, employment, reducing inequalities, climate change, and peaceful and inclusive societies”
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the HLPF submission. The HLPF Secretariat integrated comments, finalized the document, and submitted it. Click here to read the final submission paper.

Official side event proposal entitled “Reducing inequalities: a look at persons with disabilities” submitted
The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities submitted a side event proposal to the July 2019 High-level Political Forum entitled “Reducing inequalities: a look at persons with disabilities”. 

Click here to read the side event concept note.

SDGs in Action Film Festival
The SDGs in Action Film Festival is a competition seeking short films that highlight how people and organizations around the world are taking action on the 17 global goals. The Festival was launched in 2018 in connection with the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The competition offers amateur and professional filmmakers around the globe the chance to submit animated or live-action films up to 20 minutes long that showcase a person or a project working on tangible solutions to the world’s biggest threats and making the SDGs our reality.

The deadline to submit a film is 28 April 2019. Click here for more information about the SDGs in Action Film Festival.

The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities contributed a short and long version of their film to the festival. Click here to watch the short version of the film. Click here to watch the long version of the film.

Contribution by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities to the ECOSOC thematic report
The High-level Segment of the High-level Political Forum held under the auspices of ECOSOC from 16-19 July 2019 will be informed in part by the ECOSOC Thematic Focus Report “Long-term impact of current trends in the economic, social and environmental areas on the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Major Groups and other Stakeholders were invited to submit inputs to the report. As such, the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities submitted their inputs. 

Click here to read the submission of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities.

Contribution to MGoS statements for EGM 10
In order to develop statements for the Expert Group Meeting on Goal 10 that were representative of the entirety Major Groups and other Stakeholders, a call for inputs on questions aligned with the meeting outcomes was issued. The inputs gathered were analyzed for common themes, and synthesized to inform the statements and talking points drafted by representatives of the Major Groups and other Stakeholders for the Expert Group Meeting.

The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities submitted its inputs to representatives of the Major Groups and other Stakeholders for the Expert Group Meeting on Goal 10. Click here to read the inputs.

SDGs Learning
The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities in collaboration with Gallaudet University submitted an application to the UN SDGs Learning, Training & Practice focused on an introduction to Deaf culture, International Sign and the Sustainable Development Goals. The application is under review and we will know by early May if it is accepted. If our proposal is accepted, we will present for a three-hour class at some point during 9-15 July.

7. Information! High-level Political Forum Draft Programme

A draft programme for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the high-level segment of ECOSOC is now available. Click here for the draft programme.

8. Information! ECOSOC Partnership Forum

The 2019 ECOSOC Partnership Forum was held on the 11th of April under the theme “Partnerships Driving Inclusive Implementation of the SDGs” with the aim to review multi-stakeholder partnerships around the Goals under review at this year’s High-level Political Forum: SDG 4 (education), SDG 8 (employment), SDG 10 (reducing inequalities), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 16 (peaceful and inclusive societies).

The objectives of the forum were to: (i) showcase innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships and partnership platforms led by national governments; (ii) discuss ways to enhance the effectiveness of UN-associated partnerships; and (iii) update on the work of the UNSDG Strategic Results Group on Partnerships.

The forum placed a strong emphasis on the role of the private sector, particularly in financing the implementation of the SDGs. However, it was noted that the private sector should not only be seen as a fundraiser and monetary contributor, but also as a partner with technical expertise and knowledge. The forum also noted the importance of tapping into local leadership and local capabilities to strengthen collaboration on the ground level.

The key takeaways from the forum were that:

  1. There is a need to move from short-term, small scale partnerships to long term, multi-stakeholder partnerships;
  2. There is a need to unlock the potential of the private sector, especially in terms of innovative financing for the implementation of the SDGs; and
  3. There is a need to build upon the local capabilities of actors at the ground level for the implementation of the SDGs.

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Category: HLPF