8 May 2014: The Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, CIVICUS and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) have released a series of tools to facilitate assessment and advocacy on the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Stakeholder Forum has developed an assessment tool, titled ‘Tests of Success for the SDGs,’ while Stakeholder Forum, CIVICUS and UN DESA have published an advocacy toolkit and a companion media guide.

‘Tests of Success for the SDGs’ has two key aims: to help decision-makers assess proposed SDGs and ensure that the SDGs meet the standards agreed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20); and to provide stakeholders with an accountability tool to assess SDG design and hold policymakers accountable. The tool uses five filter categories to asses the SDGs: universality and differentiation; integration; transformation; communicability; and measurement and implementation. The tool also provides a matrix of questions to apply to the framework, goal or target.

The tool provides “key tests to measure the quality of proposed goals and targets, highlighting areas where particular components of the framework need further development and empowering stakeholders to hold governments to account for the outcome,” according to Farooq Ullah, Executive Director, Stakeholder Forum. “These tests provide an important objective tool to strengthen and consolidate the work currently underway in the Open Working Group,” according to Guido Schmidt-Traub, Executive Director, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and member of the ‘Tests of Success for the SDGs’ advisory group.

Stakeholder Forum developed ‘Tests of Success for the SDGs’ from a list of principles and criteria for the SDGs, based on the Rio+20 Outcome Document, the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Agenda’s (HLP) Report and other post-2015 reports.

The Stakeholder Forum, CIVICUS and the UN DESA produced the advocacy toolkit and media guide, as part of their collaboration on the Sustainable Development 2015 (SD2015) programme, a multi-stakeholder engagement programme. The toolkit aims to equip civil society and other stakeholders with the information and tools to develop and implement an advocacy strategy on the post-2015 agenda. The toolkit contains two parts: the first provides background on the post-2015 process and identifies areas for engagement and influence; the second guides users through the steps in developing a post-2015 advocacy strategy. ‘Engaging with the Media’ is a media companion to the toolkit on the use of media and social media in advocacy on the post-2015 agenda.

Partners involved in developing ‘Tests of Success for the SDGs’ include the: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia; UN Foundation; Africa Civil Society Platform; Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD); Center for American Progress; Centre for Policy Dialogue; Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability; Sustainable Development Solutions Network; and WWF. [Stakeholder Forum Press Release] [Post-2015 Advocacy Toolkit] [Tests of Success] [Engaging with the Media]