The HLPF came to an end on Wednesday 19 July, with the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration which includes all of the five explicit references to disability within poverty eradication, implementation of nationally appropriate social protection floors, addressing the multiple forms of discrimination faced by women and girls, collection and coordination of data collection, and the need to localise the SDGs by reaching out to all stakeholders including subnational and local authorities.
Click here to read the Ministerial Declaration.
During the reporting period, the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities (SGPwD) were active to ensure that all Voluntary National Reviews had a reference to persons with disabilities. To that end, and in addition to intense negotiations and written submissions, the SGPwD spoke during various VNR segments:
- Risna Utami asked Indonesia: “How will the government ensure accessibility standards, financial aspects in the development sector, and ensure involvement of persons with disabilities?”;
- Mohamed Ali Loufty and Jose Maria Viera asked Jordan and Argentina, respectively: “What specific provisions or programs has your country begun to promote the healthy lives of older persons and persons with disabilities?”;
- Gabriel Soto asked Uruguay: “In the spirit of leaving no one behind, we notice that most of the disaggregated data presented in the report--and in particular the one in relation to SRHR--is gathered and processed by civil society organizations. Can the country explain how it is currently supporting these organisations that take upon this task?”
- Yetnebersh Nigussie and Dag Wakene asked Ethiopia: “How does the government ensures that grassroots CSOs have the required space and capacity for participation in the SDGs?” and “How will Ethiopia reallocate its budget to bring first those left behind, including those with disability-aging-youth-women?”;
- Thorkild Olesen asked Denmark: “Could the Minister of Finance explain specific initiatives the government will take to ensure that vulnerable groups are fully included and not discriminated against in the implementation of the SDGs and that no groups are left behind?”.
Download questions from Major Groups and Other Stakeholders during the Voluntary National Reviews:
- Session 1: Brazil – Nepal - Luxembourg
- Session 2: Monaco – Japan - Indonesia
- Session 3: Bangladesh – Costa Rica – Kenya – Netherlands
- Session 4: Chile - Malaysia
- Session 5: Belgium – Benin - Peru
- Session 6: Guatemala – Italy - Zimbabwe
- Session 7: Argentina – Czech Republic – Jordan - Thailand
- Session 8: Belarus – Portugal - Uruguay
- Session 9: Nigeria - Panama - Sweden
- Session 10: Ethiopia – Honduras – India - Maldives
- Session 11: Azerbaijan – Afghanistan – Belize – Denmark
- Session 12: Togo – Cyprus - Iran
- Session 13: Botswana – El Salvador – Qatar – Slovenia - Tajikistan
If you are from one of the 44 countries that have reported, you are recommended to watch the national presentations linked below. Each video has captioning and International Sign.
- Botswana, Qatar, Slovenia, Tajikistan and El Salvador: http://bit.ly/2uE6Tyx
- Brazil, Luxembourg and Nepal : http://bit.ly/2gNXEpF
- Monaco, Japan and Indonesia: http://bit.ly/2tujKU9
- Belgium, Benin, Peru, Guatemala, Italy and Zimbabwe: http://bit.ly/2vFVsD1
- Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Kenya, Netherlands, Chile and Malaysia: http://bit.ly/2gNSVEx
- Czech Republic, Jordan, Thailand and Argentina: http://bit.ly/2uf6vW5
- Ethiopia, Honduras, India and Maldives (Due to technical issues CART services are missing during first 24 minutes of the meeting) http://bit.ly/2uDCct9
- Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Belize, Denmark, Togo, Iran and Cyprus: http://bit.ly/2tup2in
- Belarus, Portugal and Uruguay, Nigeria, Panama and Sweden: http://bit.ly/2vFV087
CAUCUS-MEETING OF THE STAKEHOLDER GROUP OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
On Wednesday 19 July, in margin of the High Level Political Forum, the SGPwD held a Caucus Meeting at the UN in New York. The meeting, moderated by Colin Allen (Chair, International Disability Alliance), Vladimir Cuk and Yetnebersh Nigussied (focal points of the SGPwD), aimed at reflecting on good practices and lessons learned from the preparatory processes undertaken to facilitate participation of persons with disabilities at the HLPF 2017. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss on the format of the group’s engagement in HLPF 2018.
Among others, participants highlighted a good organization and international communication, a learning opportunity as well as the high participation of the SGPwD to the 2017 HLPF due to the consequent size of the delegation. Participants also highlighted the diversity across disability and gender parity of the delegation. Participants, nevertheless, raised the following issues: higher support and commitment is needed by members of the SGPwD to relieve the International Disability Alliance Secretariat, and make a stronger representation; collaboration with other stakeholders needs to be strengthened; and the need to merge the working groups of the SGPwD. Participants also requested that additional trainings be organized for local organisations, and highlighted the importance of the BRIDGE CRPD-SDGs trainings to learn about SDGs and HLPF.
OTHER NEWS
Colin Allen, Ekaete Judith Umoh and Berhanu Tefara of the SGPwD participated in the Ministerial breakfast with Voluntary National Review countries on Wednesday 19 July morning. The Breakfast was organized by UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the United Nations Foundations, with attendance from a number of Ministers. The session aimed to provide a space for knowledge sharing between Major Groups and Other Stakeholders (MGoS), and Member States regarding work being done around the implementation, follow-up, and review at the national level, including best practices and engagement of MGoS in the national process. The MGoS also share updates on their implementation of the 2030 Agenda, making recommendations on how best to incorporate inputs from MGoS into the HLPF.
