ATD will be an active member of the new Irish #Coalition2030!

ATD will be an active member of the new Irish #Coalition2030!

Working Together to Transform the World

On 1st March 2017, ATD Ireland was proud to take part in the official launch of Coalition2030 in the Mansion House in Dublin.

The event was attended by leading civil society and political figures, with Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Denis Naughten TD,  Martin Fraser, Secretary General in the Department of the Taoiseach, Leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan TD and Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Seán Crowe TD. Other speakers at the launch included Dóchas CEO Suzanne Keatinge, Sean Healy, Social Justice Ireland, Olive Towey, Concern Worldwide, Oisin Coghlan, Friends of the Earth and Brian Campfield, President of ICTU.

Dóchas CEO, Suzanne Keatinge, with Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment launching Coalition2030.

Coalition2030 is an alliance of over 100 leading civil society groups (including ATD Ireland) working together for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The organisations involved in the Coalition work across many sectors—from children’s rights to environmental sustainability and from humanitarian relief to education—here in Ireland and in over 50 countries across the globe.

The members of Coalition2030 include: Age Action Ireland; All Together in Dignity (ATD); ChildFund Ireland; CBM Ireland; Centre for Youth Research and Development, Maynooth University; Christian Aid; Comhlámh; Community Work Ireland; Concern Worldwide; Development Perspectives; Disability Federation of Ireland; Dóchas; EcoUnesco; 80:20 Educating & Acting for a Better World; Environmental Pillar; European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN); Future Earth Ireland; Global Action Plan; Gorta Self Help Africa; Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU); Irish Development Education Association; Mercy International Association; Misean Cara; National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI); National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI); Oxfam Ireland; Presentation Sisters (PBVM); Services Industrial Professional Technical Union (SIPTU); Social Justice Ireland; Society of St. Vincent de Paul; SpunOut; The Wheel; Trinity International Development Initiative (TIDI); Trocaire; UCD Centre for Sustainable Development Studies; UNICEF; Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO); and World Vision Ireland.

ATD Ireland is very proud to be one of the 20 NGOs who started the Coalition 2030 and is committed to being a very active member. With the Coalition 2030,  ATD wants to walk the talk of the Sustainable Development Goal nr 17 about the needed partnership between stakeholders. The challenge is even to go beyong connecting the civil society organisations and to work together with the authorities, the private sector, the academics and the deprived communities first concerned by the goals.

The SDGs represent a radical political, economic, environmental and social manifesto for the world up until 2030. It has the potential to be one of the most important turning points in modern history. This is not about business as usual. It is about working together to transform the world—to end hunger and poverty once and for all and to safeguard the future of our planet. It is about ensuring that no one is left behind.

Since the adoption of the SDGs on the 25th September 2015, ATD in Ireland has been very active in promoting the 2030 Agenda. For ATD, the 17 Goals of 2030 Agenda are an empowering framework for citizens living in poverty and marginalisation in Ireland and abroad. Many projects were run to raise awareness about 17 SDGs and to enable Irish citizens including those facing poverty and marginalisation to take ownership of the 17 goals. Projects such as:

Currently ATD Ireland is developing a pilot project focused on the participation of young people in implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The focus of this project is to discuss with groups of young people how we can not only ‘talk the talk’ but actually ‘walk the walk’ of the “leave no one behind” promise.
To support the main challenge of the 2030 Agenda, ending poverty in all its forms, everywhere by 2030, ATD Ireland is also joining ATD International in a #StopPoverty ‘Call to Action’. Your support to this call can be registered at www.poverty-stop.org

Will Ireland light the way?

Ireland has played a key leadership role in the development of the SDGs. The work done by Ireland’s Ambassador to the UN, David Donoghue, when Ireland co-chaired the UN negotiations on the SDGs with Kenya, cannot be overstated.

NGOs in Ireland were crucial to the development of the SDGs and now it is time that we make sure we are crucial to their implementation and success. The Coalition2030 will work together to ensure that their potential to transform our world is fulfilled.

To do this Ireland also needs strong political leadership, effective coordination and a ‘whole of Government’ approach. Coalition2030 has three key asks for the Irish Government:

1.        Coalition2030 wants an ambitious National Action Plan led by the Department of the Taoiseach—involving all government departments—to steer, implement, monitor and report on the SDGs. This plan must emphasise the interlinked nature of the Goals—making the link, for example, between agriculture and climate change, trade policy and global poverty.

2.       Coalition2030 wants an inclusive monitoring forum, one in which civil society and in particular those vulnerable groups—both in Ireland and internationally—who stand to gain or lose most from Ireland’s work on the SDGs, are fully represented.

3.       The success of the 2030 Agenda will not happen without increased financing for development. The Government must commit the resources required to achieve the SDGs, both at home and internationally. On international level, a key indicator of this commitment will be a clear and credible plan to reach the UN target to spent 0.7% of our GNI on overseas development aid (ODA).

More about the launch and the work of Coalition members: