19 September 2016
CSOs Reflect on SDG Evaluation, G20 Summit, Refugees and Trade
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Civil society organizations (CSOs) reflect on evaluation within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), analyze the outcome of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focus on refugees and migrants, and consider trade and productive capacity.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)14 September 2016: In recent papers and briefing information, civil society organizations (CSOs) reflect on evaluation within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), analyze the outcome of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focus on refugees and migrants, and consider trade and productive capacity.

A paper from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), EVAL SDGs and EVAL Partners is the third in a series on the role of evaluation in monitoring the SDGs. It applies a “complex systems” lens to highlight SDG-related considerations for national evaluation agendas. The paper discusses: thinking beyond individual policies, programmes and projects; examining changes or interruptions in resource flows or advances in knowledge or data access; ensuring that monitoring systems have credible measures of success; recognizing the importance of culture; and shifting towards evaluative thinking and adaptive management.

In a briefing note on the G20 Summit outcome, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) criticizes the G20 for failing to set a timeline to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, or to include concrete action on climate change, such as decarbonization. On the SDGs, the paper observes that the Communique places more emphasis on conventional growth priorities and traditional development issues than on environmental issues. It also highlights inadequate treatment of the environment in the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The paper expresses concern that the SDGs’ environmental dimension is “lost in the enthusiasm for rhetorical repackaging of traditional growth priorities.”

To inform upcoming events on refugees and migrants, Development Initiatives published a fact sheet on people affected by forced displacement, titled ‘Forced displacement, poverty and financing: Seven facts you need to know.’ It provides evidence and data on allocated resources and available funding mechanisms, and recommends increased international financing instruments to support refugees, host communities and national authorities.

On trade and productive capacity, Regions Refocus and Third World Network (TWN)-Africa released a primer on the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), an African initiative that aims to advance the region’s development and integration agenda and increase intra-continental trade. The primer discusses how the CFTA can bolster productive capacity and recommends: ensuring internal coherence on linkages between tariff and trade-related issues, and agriculture and manufacturing sectors; external coherence between African commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other trade agreements; and an African-wide agenda. TWN’s ‘African Agenda’ features an issue, ‘Which way Africa’s CFTA,’ on hurdles to achieving an effective Agreement. [Five considerations for national evaluation agendas informed by the SDGs] [IGES Briefing Note] [Development Initiatives Publication Website] [CFTA Primer] [African Agenda]


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