Does the Pope like the SDGs? Considering the 2030 Agenda through the lens of Laudato Si’

Graham Gordon, CAFOD’s Head of Policy, introduces a paper which explores the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals and Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment and development, Laudato Si’

Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the result of many years of collective thinking across the international community about what international development looks like and how it should be ‘done’. It is an ambitious Agenda with an aspirational preamble and declaration, as well as 17 specific Goals (the Sustainable Development Goals or ‘SDGs’) and 169 targets.

In many ways, the SDGs offer a new way of approaching international development. They emphasise the importance of tackling inequality, of integrating environment and development and of deepening citizen participation. Most fundamentally, they state a clear commitment “to leave no-one behind”.

The SDGs demand that no-one be left behind

However, we need to address the way the SDGs are being implemented and some of the assumptions underlying the Goals if the 2030 Agenda is going to achieve the ambitious change it targets.

In a new discussion paper, we at CAFOD with a group of friends at other Catholic development organisations have taken inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si‘ – On Care for our Common Home and suggest that we can address these challenges by Engaging in the 2030 Agenda through the Lens of Laudato Si’.

New work: Agricultural Transformation

Poverty reduction remains a major challenge. The story being told by many governments and donors is that the solution to this challenge is economic growth, fuelled by economic transformation (the movement of labour and capital away from less productive agricultural activities to the more productive manufacturing and services sectors of the economy). Economic history in some way endorses this view: structural change in the economy is the only known permeant route out of poverty.

But the picture isn’t always so rosy.

Localization, Inclusion and Integrated Approach on Disaster Risk Reduction

Written by Nanette Salvador-Antequisa

Nanette is the Executive Director of EcoWEB, a non-governmental organisation based in the Philippines. Here she comments on discussions and lessons learned from the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) held in Cancun on 24-26 May.

From Identifying a problem to Implementing a Solution: Putting the Charter4Change Commitment to Stop Undermining National Capacity into Practice

Written by Anne Street, Head of Humanitarian Policy, CAFOD

A couple of years ago when a small group of INGOs were discussing with several National NGO directors what INGOs should do differently in order to ensure more localized humanitarian response there were 3 things the national NGO leaders were adamant about:  one was communications:  asking us to commit to change the way we communicated about our work with our supporters and the public to ensure that we didn’t ignore their central role in humanitarian response;  secondly  and subsequently very well trailed through WHS and the Grand Bargain, ensuring that more funding went directly to national NGOs;  and thirdly addressing the way INGOs undermine national NGO capacity by recruiting their staff in the immediate aftermath of a sudden on-set emergency or during the first 6 months of a conflict.

Women, leadership and localisation: Reflections to mark International Women’s Day 2017

Written by Anne Street, Head of Humanitarian Policy at CAFOD.

For a good chunk of the last couple of years I have been focusing my attention on localisation: the policy and practice shifts in the global humanitarian system needed to truly place national and local responders at the heart of humanitarian action. I have also been reflecting on how change happens, and listened with interest to some of the debates and reflections at the recent ALNAP conference on innovation, and read Duncan Green of Oxfam’s insightful book How Change Happens.

But to mark International Women’s Day 2017 I want to move beyond all that theoretical stuff and pay tribute to 3 amazing and courageous women who I think have done more than most to shift the dial on localisation. Each of these women have used creativity and ingenuity, they have challenged the status quo, stood up for what they believed in and have taken considerable risks in taking bold decisions aimed at making localisation happen.

Implementing the SDGs: a new opportunity for civil society-government dialogue

From CAFOD’s SDG animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-xdy1Jr2eg&t=1s

With Agenda 2030 agreed just last year, 2016 marks the first year of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During this first year, CAFOD has been working with southern partners to support implementation plans at national level. With 14 years left to achieve them all, one thing is clear: the process to implement the SDGs is creating new platforms for dialogue between civil society and governments. And the encouraging part is that in many countries, governments are actually listening.

Let’s agree that the SDGs aren’t perfect, but they’re still a great plan for the world. They offer an opportunity to do things differently. As CAFOD’s animations show, we see four transformational shifts with the SDGs: 1) they are universal, so no more “you there”, “we here”; 2) they give us a plan to integrate social, economic and environmental solutions (at last!); 3) they tell us to do all of this while leaving no one behind; and 3) to make sure that we do it in an open, inclusive  and participatory way all the way through.

A few lessons so far…

During 2016, CAFOD supported five partners across 3 continents to be part of SDG implementation processes at national level. Our support model follows three simple stages: 1) discuss, learn and understand what the SDGs are; 2) create the tools and structures needed to participate effectively; and 3) build strong and reliable relations with policy makers.

First SDG workshop organised by Caritas Sierra Leone to form Sierra Leone Coalition 2030

In the last months, some partners have been organising workshops for marginalised communities to learn about the SDGs or training sessions for journalists to write about them. Others have created new coalitions, or joined existing ones, to speak with one single voice. A few have done technical research to make sure that they have reliable data to better monitor any real progress and hold governments to account. Other examples include:

In Sierra Leone, our partners have created a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs). Sierra Leone Coalition 2030 is now the SDG focal point and the formal organisation to talk with the national government. Having a coalition has shown to be extremely effective. It has helped organisations to learn from each other instead of competing between each other; the government has formally included them in the process; and it has allowed smaller organisations (those usually left behind) to have a voice. (see @coalition_2030)

In the DRC, CSOs see Agenda 2030 as the vision for the future of their country, something they say their government doesn’t have – and something to “finally aspire to”. Some of our partners in the Eastern provinces of the DRC have been using the SDGs to strengthen their programmatic work by aligning their strategies with goals and targets. They say the SDGs are helping them link different areas of work that’re usually treated separately. For example, education and health with sustainable agriculture. And their government is listening. (see @CaritasCongo)

In Zimbabwe, our partners have been training journalists to cover the SDGs in a way that helps them frame complex issues for the public. For instance, the link between the current droughts and gender inequality could be explained better through the SDGs. (see @PRFTZim).

In Bolivia and Bangladesh, our partners are focusing on training local community leaders, women’s rights organisations, indigenous groups, trade unions or communities representing people with disabilities, to better frame their demands from a human rights perspective. Others see the SDGs as a useful tool to enforce existing legislation at local level, such as the Disability Act in Bangladesh. (see @redunitas and ADD Bangladesh)

Caritas Delegation at the UN HLPF in New York, July 2016

In addition, CAFOD is also working in collaboration with the Caritas Internationalis confederation to ensure national Caritas organisation influence their governments on national SDG implementation in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana (see report).

The results are mixed, yet positive. Above all, they show one very clear thing: the process to implement the SDGs is opening new opportunities for good dialogue among and between CSOs and government. Seizing these opportunities and making the best of them is now up to us.

Joint working and collaboration is key. If you or your organisation is working on SDGs in one of these countries, drop me a line: dmartinez@cafod.org.uk

How the SDGs and the Church can help the fight against human trafficking

Written by Dadirai Chikwengo, who is a CAFOD partner and an advocacy coordinator for Caritas Internationalis

The Catholic Church has recently been demonstrating the leading role it is playing in the fight against trafficking. In October, Pope Francis met participants at an international conference on combating human trafficking. Later in the same week, young people from around the world were invited to provide solutions to the scourge of human trafficking at a joint Holy See-UN initiative focused on how young people can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The event was also a nod to the role that the SDGs and faith groups such as the Catholic Church have in the fight against human trafficking.

How the SDGs aim to tackle trafficking

The SDGs provide a key tool to tackle trafficking. Five of the 17 goals refer to the issue: a recognition of poverty’s role in creating a supply chain of human beings. The framework’s focus on ending poverty provides an opportunity to stymie this chain.

Learn about CAFOD’s work on the Sustainable Development Goals

Working with faith groups: What can donor agencies learn from Germany?

Graham Gordon is Head of CAFOD’s Policy Team. Here, he reflects on what development agencies can learn from a new strategy published by the German Development Ministry for working with faith groups in development.

Graham Gordon is Head of Policy at CAFOD

Religious beliefs and practices are complex and often intertwined with culture. Faced with this complexity, many international donors tend to underplay religion’s role in development, or to use faith groups as instruments for advancing their agendas or reaching the most remote groups.

BMZ, the German Development Ministry, seems to be making a genuine attempt to do things differently and to engage with the complexity and tensions. Earlier in 2016, it published a strategy on working with religious communities as partners for development.

Find out more about CAFOD’s Policy work

The political drivers of the strategy are clear: the worldwide rise in religiously-motivated violence; increased migration to Europe and new migrant communities with strong religious beliefs and practices; and the rise of anti-immigrant political rhetoric across Europe and countries such as Australia and the US.

However, the strategy cannot simply be seen in the political context of migration and extremism, but also as a genuine attempt to think more deeply about the role of religion in development.

What can other donor agencies learn from Germany’s approach? 

How the Charter4Change is strengthening national and local humanitarian organisations

CAFOD partners delivering aid in the Philippines

By Anne Street, Head of Humanitarian Policy at CAFOD.

 

In June of this year the Start Network officially endorsed the Charter4Change, an initiative signed up to by 29 INGOs, including nine Start members. The Charter4Change is an exciting step towards which aims to make a reality the recent World Humanitarian Summit’s aspirations to strengthen the role of national and local organisations in humanitarian preparedness and response work.

The Charter is a series of eight commitments – also endorsed by more than 125 national/southern based organisations – which pledges its signatories to change the way they work with and relate to national actors. This includes passing 20% of humanitarian funds directly to national actors, including our partners in project design and decision making, introducing our partners directly to our funders and ensuring that we highlight their work and role in our communications.

How working with government can help to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals

Edward John-Bull, Director of Caritas Sierra Leone

Edward John-Bull is Director of CAFOD partner Caritas Sierra Leone which has led on the creation of a coalition supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He attended the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development with the government of Sierra Leone, which presented its SDG implementation strategy for review at the meeting.

As the first major UN conversation since the Sustainable Development Goals were agreed in September 2015 wrapped up in New York, it may have come as a surprise that a country left in a fragile state by the wreckage of civil war and Ebola would be amongst the first to volunteer its plans for implementation to scrutiny – like a footballer with a broken leg putting themselves forward to take a penalty.

Yet Sierra Leone is one of only 22 countries to have presented their strategy for the delivery of the goals for review at the meeting. A coalition representing private, NGO and government sectors is working to take advantage of Sierra Leone’s willingness to act as a guinea pig and ensure that the country ‘walks the talk’ on the SDGs.

Read CAFOD’s Sustainable Development Goals FAQs

Caritas Sierra Leone, with the support of CAFOD, created the Sierra Leone Coalition 2030 in January. This has provided one strong voice for civil society organisations to influence the government in designing, monitoring and following-up on the implementation of the SDGs. We have three key activities: to ensure that the voices of people who have been left behind are heard; to educate people about the SDGs; and to work closely with the government as an instrument of accountability.