12 April 2016: Civil society organizations (CSOs) address the need for coherence and integration in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including in reports by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Stakeholder Forum and partners. Other publications and blog posts provide recommendations for national implementation, and address financing, business and inequality. In addition, the Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network released an advocacy toolkit on SDG 16 on peace, justice and institutions.

An IISD policy brief calls for a follow-up and review process that allows “everyone everywhere to assess overall progress towards sustainable development and to know what more needs to be done.” Authored by Mark Halle and Robert Wolfe and titled ‘Bringing Coherence to the Work of the HLPF,’ the report suggests that the process must provide a “concrete sense of who needs to do what to follow-up.” It also emphasizes the national level as the most important for reviewing implementation while also recognizing the need for regional review, and supports the proposal of the UN Secretary-General on a reporting template. The brief recommends: a clear preparatory process and organization of the HLPF’s agenda; using the HLPF’s annual theme to ensure coherence across the UN system; and elements for the expected UNGA resolution on follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is described as “the single biggest transformational challenge for developed countries,” while also providing a strong integrating concept for the SDGs, in a report by the Stakeholder Forum, Bioregional and Newcastle University, funded by the Government of Finland. Titled ‘Seeing the Whole: Implementing the SDGs in an Integrated and Coherent Way,’ the report presents a methodology for countries to ensure integration as they pursue policies for SDG implementation. The report outlines types of interlinkages among targets, such as supporting, enabling, disenabling, and relying, and calls for SCP to be integrated with and supported by all other SDGs. Applying the methodology, the report analyzes the EU’s action on SCP, with a focus on the Circular Economy Package.

On national implementation, Save the Children’s report, titled ‘From Agreement to Action,’ identifies areas of action for governments, such as: integrating the SDGs into national plans, sector strategies, budgets and foreign policies; strengthening national public institutions and coordination mechanisms, with a focus on reaching those furthest behind; investing in data; and encouraging independent reporting on SDG progress. The report also proposes actions for international actors, including to: provide guidance on adapting the Goals and targets to national contexts; fulfill financial, political and other commitments; support the data revolution to ensure a minimum level of disaggregated data in every country; and support and participate in global accountability processes. Save also calls on the UN Secretary-General to appoint a high-level panel or task force to prepare a report on implementation and suggestions on ensuring children are not left behind.

The TAP Network released a Goal 16 Advocacy Toolkit, providing guidance, tips and tools for CSOs on engaging with SDG 16 at the national level. It includes advice on developing an advocacy plan and working with national governments to implement SDG 16. The Toolkit also addresses: preparation of a gap analysis and stakeholder mapping and analysis; support for national follow-up and monitoring for SDG 16; and case studies from CSO advocacy on SDG 16.

According to a Development Initiatives’ report, domestic resource mobilization (DRM) is critical to the success of the SDGs, and sufficient financing should be a “key priority at the start of the SDG era.” Analyzing official development assistance (ODA) disbursements, the report finds that Tanzania, Afghanistan and Mozambique receive the largest amount of core aid for DRM. The UK, Norway and EU are the largest providers of “core aid,” or support to DRM-focused projects, while the US is the largest provider of “wide aid.” The report predicts that aid for DRM will increase, and provides suggestions to ensure impact.

“Share of value” is one way for businesses to tackle inequality, writes Erinch Sahan, Oxfam. Sahan observes that the private sector often reinterprets inequality in terms of social sustainability or doing business with people living in poverty, approaches that may not actually address inequality between the richest and the poorest. He proposes a measurement that compares businesses on how they share value with workers, farmers and low-income consumers, which he says reflects a long-held principle of fair trade. [Policy Brief: Follow-up and review for the 2030 Agenda: Bringing Coherence to the Work of the HLPF] [Seeing the Whole] [From Agreement to Action] [Save the Children Report Webpage] [TAP Network Goal 16 Advocacy Toolkit] [Aiding Domestic Revenue Mobilization] [Oxfam Blog]