The national implementation of the Agenda 2030. What role for CSOs and LAs?

As part of its activities, the PFD is currently undertaking a comparative country research that focus on the role of national strategies to promote the implementation of the Agenda 2030. In particular, it explores the instruments and mechanisms applied by national governments in order to achieve the SDGs and the role that CSOs and LAs play in that process.

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The research began in November 2015 with the first selected country: the Netherlands. Since then, Indonesia, Peru and Ghana have joined the research. The first findings are already coming up and two of the researchers, Edith van Ewijk from the Netherlands and Wicak Sarosa from Indonesia will participate in the Global PFD in Brussels 14-16 March.

A particularity of the exercise is that local researchers lead the study. In order to ensure the pertinence of the results, it needs to combine two sources of information. On one hand researchers need to be familiar with the literature about the Agenda 2030 and the latest developments in the country. On the other, they must be able to reach out to a large number of relevant stakeholders (government, civil society organizations, local authorities, trade unions, etc) and organize interviews, focus groups, etc. to gather different views and opinions. A prominent part of the study is the examination of multi-stakeholder platforms and coalitions and the role they play in the national debate. 

The research is gaining momentum now as it focuses on, broadly, the following questions:

• What are the problems and proposed solutions (policies, instruments, etc.) that will support the implementation of Agenda 2030 in the different constituencies?
• What mechanisms can be devised to help our constituencies participate better in the dialogue and implementation of the SDGs?
• How can we link national and local strategies or, in other words, how can we incorporate a territorial approach to the national legal, policy and programmatic framework of delivery of the Agenda 2030?

 The majority, if not all, of the PFD members have been or are currently engaged in the Agenda 2030, representing organizations from all corners of the world. In this context, they are in a very valuable position to inform about the process in different regions and, at the same time, become part of advocacy efforts to promote an enabling environment for CSOs and LAs in different sectors and levels of government.

Recognizing that one of the intrinsic characteristics of the PFD is the diversity of its members, the research will not only provide good insights into the process of establishing national strategies in the selected countries. Perhaps more importantly, it will reflect if those strategies enable the meaningful participation of different actors and how those actors organize themselves to contribute effectively to the implementation of the Agenda 2030.