Written by: Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo, National Operations Coordinator & Jesús Epifanio Vicencio Prior, Content and Writing Division at MY World Mexico.
Last month the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) was held at United Nations Headquarters with the purpose of giving a space to different stakeholders for the sharing of their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The HLPF is the United Nations main platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs that provides the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States Members of specialized agencies. This year’s team was “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. The set of goals that were reviewed in depth were Goal 1 (No poverty), Goal 2 (Zero hunger), Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure), Goal 14 (Life below water), and Goal 17 (Partnerships for the goals).
In accordance with Paragraph 84 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member States decided that the HLPF shall carry out regular Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs which included developed and developing countries, as well as relevant United Nations entities and other stakeholders. The HLPF reviews this year were state-led, involving ministerial and other relevant high-level participants, and provided a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of major groups and other relevant stakeholders.
This year’s VNRs aimed to facilitate the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned with a view to accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The VNRs also focused on strengthening policies and institutions of governments and to mobilize multi-stakeholder support and partnerships for the implementation of the SDGs. The VNR countries submitted comprehensive written reports that were be made available in the VNR database. In addition, each VNR country provided main messages summarizing their key findings. In addition, the Secretariat invited all relevant stakeholders to host side-events during the HLPF. In total, 147 side-events, 3 special events, and 10 learning courses and workshops to favor the 2030 Agenda and the implementation of the SDGs were organized. MY World Mexico was able to join events daily and participate in key meetings with stakeholders at the global and national levels.
For this year’s HLPF five team members from MY World Mexico were selected by as a result of their work on the ground since 2016 to represent My World Mexico at this outstanding event.
As result, our participation increased the voices and impact of young people and volunteers of MY World Mexico due to the campaign’s work related to the implementation of SDGs and its monitoring through the MY World 2030 survey. In addition MY World Mexico’s partnerships strengthened with key meetings and approaches (like Ilmi Salminen, United Nations Youth Delegate of Finland; Anne-Sophie Dubrux, United Nations Youth Delegate of Belgium; Adil Skalli, Project Office, Climate Change, Global Goals Camp; Model Assemblies, United Nations Association in Canada; Steve Lee, Executive Director, Foundation for Environmental Stewardship, among others).
We were able to share best practices of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs locally, nationally and internationally, which were acknowledged by its focus on volunteering. On the other hand our team improved youth advocacy skills and got to explore new opportunities for MY World Mexico to improve and innovate our work (specifically, key points to improve MY World Mexico as a network of youth talent).
We established frequent communication and collaboration with youth around the world, to advocate for the involvement of young people in the governance processes aimed to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. This included a close dialogue with Mexico’s Presidency to interact on new ways to include youth in SDG action and discussion mechanisms at the national level.
Read MY World Mexico’s Full Report on the 2017 HLPF: here.