May 29, 2015
As G7 meets in Germany, SDG-F shares views on post 2015 agenda

Joining forces for sustainable development. The SDG Fund paves the way towards a post-2015 agenda.

In the lead up to the G7 Germany Summit, the SDG Fund is pleased to contribute to G7 Germany: The Schloss Elmau Summit eBook produced by the G7 Research Group. The article explains the role of the SDG Fund particularly in light of the changing development landscape in addition to the Fund’s approach towards sustainable development. The publication also features insightful content on matters influencing the global agenda and includes contributions from global leaders, including summit host Chancellor Angela Merkel and UNSG Ban Ki-moon. 

By Paloma Durán, director of the SDG Fund

The United Nations Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda is fast approaching and the world eagerly anticipates the outcome as it will determine the global course of action for the next 15 years. The future Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will function quite differently from the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as they bring together two frontiers – development and climate – and they address issues pertaining to global public goods and national obstacles.

Moreover, the successor goals apply universally to both poor and rich countries, making this new development agenda far more complex to administer and monitor. One should therefore not underestimate the scale of the challenge in agreeing and implementing 17 SDGs as it will have implications for most universal processes from economic to energy governance, peace building to climate change, and trade to biodiversity. The big question that springs to mind is: how shall we set the measure for all the subsequent work? 

In the Millennium Declaration of 2000, world leaders recognized that we have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity and they promised to promote the right to development. This year we are presented with a new opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to joining forces behind a transformative agenda for sustainable development. In the UN Secretary General’s post-2015 synthesis report titled “The Road to Dignity by 2030”, Mr. Ban Ki-moon offers an integrated set of six essential elements to facilitate Member States’ deliberations on the SDGs: dignity; people; prosperity; planet; justice and partnership. 

Indeed, partnership lies at the very heart of the post-2015 agenda and it is a recognized principle that sustainable development cannot be achieved by governments alone – it requires the full participation of all people. Multi-stakeholder partnerships between business, NGOs, Governments, the UN and other actors will therefore play a pivotal role in the implementation of the new agenda.

It is in this vein that the Sustainable Development Goals Fund (SDG Fund) was established in March 2014 with the intention to bring together various UN entities, national governments, academia, civil society and businesses in order to join efforts to support sustainable development activities through a variety of joint programmes. Acting as an international development cooperation mechanism, the SDG Fund was created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with an initial contribution from the Government of Spain to address the needs and vulnerabilities of each country involved. We are currently operating in 18 different countries within Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Arab States and Africa and each of our programmes are addressing challenges pertaining to inclusive economic growth for poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, as well as water and sanitation. Gender equality, women’s empowerment, public-private partnerships and sustainability are the main cross-cutting priorities in our work. The rationale behind our joint programme initiative is to enhance the development impact of technical assistance by combining inputs from a variety of UN agencies, each contributing according to its specific expertise and bringing their respective national partners on board.

The SDG Fund is therefore based on three main pillars:

1) achieving the abovementioned policy goals

2) the efficiency and multi-sectorial approach of each agency involved in implementing the joint programmes

3) and the national ownership which is achieved through matching funds and the participation of national counterparts.

In this regard, national and international partners, including the private sector, provide approximately 56% of our resources in the form of matching funds, thus generating a strong sense of national ownership and long-term sustainability. For example, in Honduras we are working alongside the private sector to reduce the poverty levels of vulnerable rural populations, including youth and women, through the development of sustainable cultural tourism initiatives. Of the total number of beneficiaries, at least 60% are women. The programme seeks to promote inclusive local economic development. t takes on a participatory approach incorporating indigenous groups, the private sector, and establishing alliances with social services to prevent gender-based violence and alcoholism. 

In the lead up to the post-2015 era, the SDG Fund is keen to foster collaboration with the private sector as we recognize the integral role that businesses are playing in achieving sustainable development on the ground. Each company – large and small – is making incredible contributions towards shared economic, social and environmental progress. This is being achieved through core business operations and value chains, social investments and advocacy efforts. 

The SDGs all focus on improving the business environment and enabling contributions for inclusive economic growth, particularly by incorporating the leadership of the private sector to create roles and advance economic stability. Consequently, the SDG Fund decided to establish a Private Sector Advisory Group consisting of 14 major companies from various industries worldwide (namely: oil, food, media, consultancy, microfinance, infrastructure, energy and clothing sectors) with the aim to collaborate and discuss practical solutions pertaining to the common challenges of contemporary sustainable development. The Advisory Group is committed to working towards identifying areas of common interest and deciphering the best methods of UN-Private Sector engagement as well as suggestions for how to work more effectively with one another at the country level. We hope to partner with more businesses that share the same values, including internationally-recognized principles concerning human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption.

To conclude, 2015 presents a historic and unprecedented opportunity to bring the countries and citizens of the world together to embark on new endeavors to improve the lives of people everywhere. It is clear that achieving the SDGs will require assets and action from a variety of actors across the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Multi-stakeholder partnerships will therefore represent an essential element of the post-2015 development agenda, especially regarding its means of implementation.

The SDG Fund serves as a platform for multi-stakeholders to deliver on common goals by pooling knowledge, expertise, technologies and financial resources. We would like to encourage more donors to partner with us as we embark on this new journey and we believe stakeholders can benefit from engaging with us through our deep understanding of development issues; our convening power that brings together government and other stakeholders; our facilitation role in developing value chains; and our expertise and mandate in building capacities of governments, private sector and civil society. 

As we look ahead to the future development goals, we must sustain the investments already made and ensure a smooth and effective transition to the post-2015 era. The hard work has only just begun but together we can build on our core strengths and focus on creating a breakthrough in development. In the words of the Secretary General, “the post-2015 development framework is likely to have the best development impact if it emerges from an inclusive, open and transparent process with multi-stakeholder participation”.

The SDG Fund together with its partners intends to bridge the gap between the MDGs to the SDGs by setting an example as to how to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It may be an ambitious agenda but it’s one that is definitely worth pursuing.    

Full version of the publication G7 Germany: The Schloss Elmau Summit can be found at this link