The 2022 HLPF was the first chance since the start of the pandemic for TAP Network to convene in-person with TAP Partners, TAP Members, collaborators and stakeholders in New York. With limited participation for civil society at official meetings inside the United Nations Headquarters and no review of SDG16+ this year, access and participation was challenged and limited. However, through organizing official Side-Events, civil society meetings and informal discussions throughout the two weeks, TAP Network, together with our civil society partners, strengthened our coordination and made progress in our strategy looking ahead to the 2023 SDG Summit and beyond.
7 July
On 7 July, TAP Steering Committee member and Director of Civil Society Coalition on Sustainable Development Nigeria, Margaret Olabisi Mekwuye, intervened during the fireside chat "Working Towards the 2023 SDG Summit." Alongside many other esteemed panelists, Olabisi made a clear call for the 2023 Summit to be a "commitments summit" and to have emphasis on consultations with civil society.
Find more information about this session on the HLPF website or the IISD's HLPF reporting page.
During the afternoon, TAP Network, as a member of the SDG16 Data Initiative, was also thrilled to support another iteration of the initiative's official HLPF Side-Event. Titled "Progress on SDG16+: How are we doing and what happens if we fail?," the event aimed to provide a half-way diagnosis to 2030 and look ahead to the challenges for the next seven years by providing key policy recommendations. Watch the full event below and look out for their upcoming Global Report coming out later this year.
8 July
On 8 July, at the end of the first week of the 2022 HLPF, members of the TAP Steering Committee and Secretariat that were in New York came together to lay the groundwork for TAP's strategic planning process that will be initiated this Fall. This process will be necessary in order to replace the 2020-2022 TAP Network Strategic Plan that will expire at the end of this year. Some of the focus areas that came up during this discussion include membership engagement, geographical coordination, thematic engagement, sharing & learning platforms and improved translation services.
9 July
11 July
The second week of the HLPF started with a splash with our annual Voices of SDG16+ Video Campaign Official HLPF Side Event. This event featured the videos and presentations of this year's video finalists and an update from an alumnus of a previous iteration of the campaign. The virtual event was also accompanied with a live visual strategist that transformed the words and themes of the presenters during the event into illustrations and art.
The event was based on the call for sumbissions that was launched earlier this year with the theme "Civil Society leading the charge for SDG16+."
Submissions were advertised for and accepted in English, Spanish, French and Arabic. The event was also simultaneously translated in these languages.
On the Voices of SDG16+ Campaign's YouTube, you can find each of the finalist's winning videos, as well as a compilation video of the 2022 Video Campaign and HLPF event recording.
Find the official event summary and the Voices website below.
12 July
On 12 July, TAP Network, as a member of the Global SDG16+ Coalition, co-hosted the event "SDG16+: An Interactive Dialogue on Reinvigorating Action towards an Agenda in Peril." The discussion featured representatives from the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the UN, Oslo Governance Center, Danish Institute of Human Rights and National Coordinator for African Women Leaders Network Sierra Leone.
The esteemed panelists, moderated by Pathfinders SDG16 Lead Margaret Williams, participated in an invigorated discussion exploring where we are right now with SDG16 implementation, where we go from here and how we move towards the 2023 SDG Summit.
You can find an official summary of the event's key take aways and a recording of the entire discussion below.
Later this afternoon, TAP participated in two additional events. The first was a TAP Members and Partners luncheon for colleagues that were also in town to meet in-person for the first time in almost three years to network and discuss plans for 2023 mobilization. Colleagues shared their plans and suggestions for ways that TAP Network can organize and support them, while also pushing for more learning, sharing and collaboration as a Network.
The second event was co-organized with Together 2030. The virtual event, titled "Developing and Presenting A Voluntary National Report: What's Next?," invited Member States and Civil Society to increase the discussion around the follow-up process that can be done after a country presents their VNR. The discussion was guided by the following questions:
- Do Member States continue to engage with stakeholders?
- Do Member States review the alternate reports prepared by Civil Society?
- How do Member States address the questions presented by other Member States and Civil Society during their presentation of the VNR at HLPF?
- The most important question is how does it help to improve implementation of SDGs at national level?
14 July
For TAP's last event of the 2022 HLPF, a virutal event was organized in direct follow-up from the official launch of the 2022 Rome Civil Society Declaration on SDG16+ at the SDG16 Conference in Rome, Italy, in April. We were honored to be joined by high-level speakers Fabio Cassese, Director-General of Italian International Cooperation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Maria Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and InterAgency Affairs from UNDESA, and Jan Beagle, Director-General of IDLO.
Speaker and attendee participation was energized, with themes such as political will, civil society's role in accountability, endorsement and urgency coming up throughout the event.
A complete summary of the event can be found at the link below, as well as the Zoom recording on the TAP Network YouTube.
The Rome Declaration has now been endorsed by over 350 organizations. Consider becoming one of them by visiting the Rome Declaration's website below to read and endorse the document.
And that's a wrap! We are thankful to all TAP Network Members, Partners and collaborators that participated and engaged with us during these busy two weeks virtually or in-person. We hope to see you all at the 2023 HLPF.