Enhancing democracy in the implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda (Presentation by Mandeep Tiwana on behalf of the International Steering Committee of the Civil Society Pillar of the Community of Democracies: 18 th Meeting of the Governing Council, Community of Democracies, 1 Oct 2015, UN Secretariat Building, New York City) Introduction •
The 2030 Development Agenda is critical to the future of humanity for the next 15 years and will determine whether we are able to get a grip on extreme poverty, substantially reducing inequality, promoting peace and justice and safeguarding our precious environment.
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The 2030 agenda vitally recognises that development is also about freedom – freedom from both fear and violence.
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Notably, the agenda specifically commits to participatory decision making and ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms in Goal 16 and to encourage and promote effective civil society partnerships under Goal 17. Without the full realisation of these aspirations, democracy is meaningless and exists only in name.
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Democratic states and members of the Community of Democracies have played a key role in ensuring that the above aspirations are firmly embedded in the 2030 agenda.
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As Nelson Mandela mentioned “once you climb a big hill, you find that there are many more hills to climb.” Thus, there is more work to be done. The indicator development process lies before us and unfortunately that process has not been as inclusive as the process of determining the goals and targets has been.
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The proposed indicator on protecting fundamental freedoms is incomplete as is the indicator on participatory decision making. The indicator on civil society partnerships is nonexistent. As the indicators will guide implementation, this process needs wholesome civil society participation.
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Equally importantly, we need an enabling environment for citizen participation and civil society to monitor the implementation of the goals and targets. Robust civil society involvement will be the key to unlocking the potential of the whole 2030 framework and ensuring that people’s aspirations remain at the heart of the 2030 agenda.
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We thus look to democracies around the world to lead by example and also to persuade those who are less willing to have civil society assume its rightful place in decision making forums. We also need to protect the public’s right to express democratic dissent and demand economic, social, political, gender and environmental justice.
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CIVICUS’ research shows that there were substantial threats to the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly in 96 countries in 2014 alone - from authoritarian and from some democratic governments as well as from non-state actors such as unscrupulous business entities and fundamentalist groups of various types.
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Our colleagues at ICNL have documented restrictive legislation - both laws and bills - to curb the work and impact of civil society in at least 90 countries over the last couple of years.
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Freedom House has reported that 2014 was the ninth consecutive year that we saw a decline in civil liberties and political freedoms around the world. This decline was sadly not matched by the number of good practices.
Some recommendations •
It is vital that democracies set the standard in the implementation of the complete 2030 framework by including it in their national development plans and also by ensuring the development of robust reporting mechanisms that include civil society.
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It is vital that democracies in the developed world allocate at least 0.7% of their Gross National Income as agreed in the 2030 agenda as ODA to developing countries. Importantly, the percentages of ODA that flow to civil society organisations should increase from their present amounts. The UK has made and kept a commitment to meet 0.7% ODA and Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Luxembourg continue to exceed 1%.
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It is vital that democracies share innovations and knowhow in data gathering using science and technology among themselves and with others to enable better citizen monitoring and public participation in the adoption and evaluation of the 2030 agenda. The Netherlands have included CSOs in their delegation to the International Telecommunications Union in discussions on Internet Communication Tools which was the only way civil society could participate in the discussions.
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It is vital that democracies persuade the UN and national statistical agencies to prise open the indicator development process to include civil society and also formally adopt civil society evaluations at the national level such as the Freedom in the World Index, the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, ICNL’s NGO Law Monitor and CIVICUS’ Civic Space Monitor which is being developed in the 2030 agenda.
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It is vital that democracies adopt national policies on engagement with the civil society sector to enable us to perform our key roles in finding innovative solutions to complex development problems and ensuring that all voices, particularly those of the disadvantaged and marginalised are factored into sustainable development. India has a national policy on the voluntary sector which could be better implemented. Mexico, Cote d’Ivoire and Colombia have mechanisms and policies to protect CSOs, human rights defenders and/or journalists.
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It is vital that democracies in cooperation with international bodies conduct independent and periodic public assessments of the human rights impacts of their policies related to ODA, trade, investment, tax, migration, intellectual property, debt, monetary policies and financial regulation. The Open Government Partnership has played an important role in shining a spotlight on violations of civil society rights in Azerbaijan.
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It is vital that democracies continue to share their experiences with regard to democratisation and civil society participation with others. Brazil has a formal mechanism to include civil society in foreign policy making and has also included civil society in their negotiations on the SDGs.
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Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently called civil society the “oxygen” of democracy. Without an enabled and empowered civil society there can be no democracy. So please speak up when civil society rights are violated (by your friends and by those who don’t agree with you) at home and abroad. The United States’ Stand With Civil Society initiative continues to give hope to activists and CSOs around the world as does the steadfast commitment of the European Union to protect and empower civil society.
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The 2030 agenda commits to creating a world where human rights, democracy and the rule of law are assured. It is now up to all of us to ensure that this aspiration is realised.