Ahead of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (#HLPF2016 – see*) at the United Nations from 11th to 20th July 2016, ATD Ireland reiterates its call, first launched on Valentine’s Day 2016, and asking on this day all #GE16 candidates to be ready to show their #Hearts4Justice!
Dear Taoiseach, dear Ministers, dear TDs,
Ahead of #HLPF2016, the first UN major forum after the start of Agenda 2030, take some time to tell Irish citizens of your commitments to the 17 #GlobalGoals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development agreed on by Ireland in September 2015.
All Irish stakeholders have to contribute to the implementation, monitoring and follow-up of this new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, bothin Ireland and beyond.
The Government, the private sector, the education sector, civil society, the media, we all have a role to play to build a better future for people and planet !
Now, after the adoption of the #GlobalGoals and Irish role as “Midwife” of this adoption, it’s time to walk the walk! It is the task of the new Government to make sure we keep the promises!
A few days before the start of the HLPF in New York, it’s showtime! We call on all Government Ministers and on all TDs, to use the hashtag #Hearts4Justice on Facebook and Twitter and to #TellEveryone the role you will play to get the job done!
For All Together in Dignity Ireland, after our action in the week of the World Day of Social Justice (20th February), the first UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is an opportunity to call on our elected representatives to commit to:
1 – developing an overarching Irish Sustainable Development Strategy and a concrete implementation plan which coordinates the achievement of the 17 goals, 169 targets and their indicators. This new Strategy and its associated implementation policies should be subject to a broad consultation with all stakeholders through an institutionalised and inclusive process.
2 – ensuring that this new Strategy does not cherry-pick the easiest or preferred goals and must go beyond policy-as-usual by aiming for the highest level of ambition in all the targets, guaranteeing that no-one is left behind and that the environmental challenges are met.
3 – making sure that Ireland will design strong monitoring, review and accountability mechanisms. As “Ending poverty, everywhere and in all its forms” is the central goal of the #2030Agenda, we call on new TDs to create permanent spaces for reflection and dialogue with people who have experience of poverty and together with other partners. This will ensure that the people able to contribute to the definition and evaluation of the policies that affect them.
4 – rooting the 2030 Agenda Strategy in a Human Rights framework including the most recent Human Rights tools and individual and collective complaint opportunities. One of these tools should be the 2012 adopted United Nations’ Guideline Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (see special handbook).
5 – recognising that sustainable development challenges and solutions for Ireland and beyond rarely sit within local or national borders. Ireland must develop with the EU a means to differentiate between the parts of the 2030 Agenda for which EU member states are primarily responsible versus those for which an EU lead is necessary and for which the EU must be held to account.
Read our ealier calls on the General Elections 2016 candidates:
- #Hearts4Justice – The Valentine’s Day Call (PDF format)
- A “To Do List” for all #GE16 candidates (1st January 2016)
- Wanted Human Rights’ Champion (29th January 2016)
* The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is United Nations central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015.
