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From the rule of law to participatory decision-making, violence reduction and the promotion of peace, Sustainable Development Goal 16 offers a transformative component of an indivisible and interdependent 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As there can be no peace without development, there can be no development without peace. The following is an attempt to articulate SDG 16+ in practice—in policy, programming and the issues embedded therein.
From anti-corruption reforms, regulatory assessments, e-governance, and laws of political parity, to youth-driven policy, the importance of language and the need to translate global frameworks for national priorities, the following document attempts to capture the key solutions, tools and policy take-aways highlighted at the Annual Showcase, amidst persistent challenges.
Consistent across the various issues, solutions and challenges discussed were the following key take-aways: the need for inclusion in process, policy and practice; the importance of national and local ownership; a call to identify what already works and increase coordination across ministries and stakeholders; the critical value of partnerships and meaningful engagement with all segments of society, particularly with civil society and data as a means of measuring and driving progress. Further, and against a background of various UN reform agendas and frameworks, the need to draw out and act upon those interlinkages for scale and sustainable impact was highlighted. The 2019 High-level Political Forum, at which SDG 16 will be reviewed among others, provides an opportunity to take stock of progress made in implementation and the additional steps needed in moving towards 2030.
With Georgia as host, initial focus was placed on the “just societies” component of SDG 16 and its anti-corruption, good governance and rule of law efforts.
