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The Sustainable Development Goals 2017

United Nations Secretariat, Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
July 2017

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The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2017 reviews progress made towards the 17 Goals in the second year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report is based on the latest available data. It highlights both gains and challenges as the international community moves towards full realization of the ambitions and principles espoused in the 2030 Agenda. While considerable progress has been made over the past decade across all areas of development, the pace of progress observed in previous years is insufficient to fully meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets by 2030. Progress has not always been equitable. Advancements have been uneven across regions, between the sexes, and among people of different ages, wealth and locales, including urban and rural dwellers. 

 

The improvement of data on difficulties faced by children with disabilities, with the introduction of a new module on child functioning for use in censuses and surveys, is noted. This tool was introduced in 2016 by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners. Social protection coverage and people with disabilities is also mentionned.

Are national voluntary reviews promoting awareness and inclusion? : Perceptions survey on civil society and stakeholder engagement in voluntary national reviews and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda

COSTA, Naiara
LONG, Graham
LUXTON, Louise
May 2017

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"For the second year, Together 2030 has carried out a survey to collect evidence on stakeholder awareness of, and participation in, national planning and review around the 2030 Agenda. In 2017, the survey was conducted in partnership with the Newcastle University. The survey received 461 responses from a range of stakeholders, including national, regional and global organisations. This perceptions survey asked 20 questions in total (though not all questions were directed to all respondents). It was issued in three languages: English, Spanish and French, and was shared broadly with civil society and stakeholder mailing lists and via social media from March 3 to March 24 2017."

This report addresses two key questions about people’s participation in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development:

  • How extensive is stakeholder awareness of, and participation in, the process of country Voluntary National Reviews which are a central component of the High Level Political Forum
  • How aware and engaged is civil society and stakeholders across the world in national level planning and review of the SDGs?

This report presents statistical, survey-based evidence that helps to address these two questions. 

Quality inclusive education at the heart of the SDGs

Julia McGeown
Marion Steff
Andrew Balchin
Majken Disch
February 2017

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These two posters have been designed to showcase how the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs)  and Inclusive education are linked, using visual diagrams with photographic examples.  The first of these posters details the importance of inclusive quality education, particularly for children with disabilities , in all of the 17 SDGs. The second one focuses on goal 4 and gives concrete actions to be taken  to implement the different targets,  with a special focus on  student with disabilities.

High-Level Political Forum 2017

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ALLIANCE (IDA)
2017

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The theme for HLPF 2017 (High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development), 10-19 July 2017, is "Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world". The set of goals to be reviewed in depth will be goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 14 and 17.

Key documents for HLPF 2017

Policy Briefs: HLPF 2017  
Global Report on the participation of organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) in VNR Processes 
Accessible Information Communication Technology and Assistive Technologies and Persons with Disabilities 
HLPF 2017: Submission Paper by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities 

Enabling inclusive cities - Tool kit for inclusive urban development

LINDFIELD, Michael
SINGRU, Ramola Naik
2017

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This Inclusive Cities Tool Kit presents an integrated approach to inclusive urban development (IUD).

 

This tool kit presents concepts and strategies for addressing technical and institutional challenges related to shelter, infrastructure, transport, climate change, and disaster risk management. Chapter 1 presents an IUD framework that sets out the underlying principles of accessibility, affordability, resilience, and sustainability for an integrated approach to IUD investments. It outlines the process for undertaking an inclusive urban assessment. Chapter 2 sets out a toolbox that includes assessment methodologies, implementation tool kits, and other resources for each step in the process. The tools are designed to mesh across three phases of the development of an inclusive urban redevelopment project—the initial data gathering, the assessment and options development, and the prioritization of preferred options.

 

This tool kit has been prepared for ADB staff and other stakeholders to engage in IUD programming and implementation as an integral component of the ADB lending programs in DMCs. It is a guide to assist staff in supporting city governments in DMCs to prepare and implement IUD plans. The tool kit is intended as a practical guide for mayors, local government officials, sector specialists, planners, and other decision makers involved in project programming and design of urban infrastructure projects in cities

The capacity of community-based participatory research in relation to disability and the SDGs

GREENWOOD, Margo
2017

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The 2030 Agenda pledges to foster shared responsibility, recognizes all as crucial enablers of sustainable development, and calls for the mobilization of all available resources. It also commits to multi-stakeholder partnerships and pledges to be open, inclusive, participatory and transparent in its follow-up and review. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) equitably involves community members, organizational representatives and researchers, enabling them to share power and resources through drawing on the unique strengths that each partner brings. It aims to integrate any increased knowledge and understanding into action, policy and social change to improve the health and quality of life of community members. CBPR involves recruiting community or peer researchers, involving them in planning and offering them training to undertake interviews and observations in their context. They are also part of the analysis and dissemination process, and continue to work with local partners on advocacy plans and events after projects and research have finished. People with disabilities are actively part of the research process throughout. Drawing on relevant literature and current CBPR disability research in East and West Africa, this paper puts forward CBPR as a methodology that can enable community members to identify key barriers to achieving the SDGs, and inform how policy and programmes can be altered to best meet the needs of people with disabilities. It demonstrates CBPR in practice and discusses the successes and complexities of implementing this approach in relation to the SDGs. The paper also highlights findings such as the high level of support needed for community research teams as they collect data and formally disseminate it, the honest raw data from peer to peer interaction, a deep level of local ownership at advocacy level, emerging issues surrounding meaningfully involving community researchers in analysis, and power differentials. A key conclusion is that to join partners with diverse expertise requires much planning, diplomacy, and critical, reflexive thought, while emphasising the necessity of generating local ownership of findings and the translation of knowledge into a catalyst for disability-related policy change.

 

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1

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