SDGs at the German Government’s Open Days

On 26th and 27th August 2017, the German Government held their annual Open Days, this year under the motto “Fancy a date with democracy?”.

People in Berlin had a chance to visit the German Chancellery and the Federal Ministries as well as the Press and Information Office. The UN SDG Action Campaign coordinated an interactive space on the SDGs at the Chancellery Gardens jointly with the German Chancellery sustainable development team and the German Council on Sustainable Development.

Overall, the Open Days attracted more than 120.000 visitors, including families and young people who all had the opportunity to interact with the German federal government and administration.

The Campaign team raised awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals and featured a range of innovative tools for citizen engagement. Children and adults were especially keen to try United Nations Virtual Reality and get an impression of what life is like in Liberia after Ebola, in a refugee camp in Jordan or in the Gaza strip. Many visitors took the opportunity to share their views on the Goals by taking the MyWorld 2030 survey and checking out the views of other citizens from around the world on the MYWorld 2015 and MyWorld 2030 data visualization platforms.

The Open Days also featured the Humans of My World exhibition, which showcases personal testimonies from around the world on why the SDGs matter to the people being quoted.

Read more about the Government’s Open Days 2017 on the website of the German Federal Government here (in German).

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Have your Say on the SDGs taking the MYWorld2030 survey.

Dili International Conference on the post-2015 Agenda

Next week is the Dili International Conference on the post-2015 agenda, which will take place from the 25th-28th of February. This will help fill something of a gap identified in post-2015 discussions to date, by bringing attention to the priorities of fragile and conflict affected states.

The focus of the conference is “Development for All: Stop conflict, build states and eradicate poverty”, and it aims to:

“provide a country-owned and country-led forum for representatives of the g7+ and Pacific Island countries to contribute to the international conversation about the focus of development beyond 2015. The dialogue will offer a chance to connect principal stakeholders; promote fraternity between the members of the g7+, Pacific Island countries and development partners. It will provide an opportunity to test ideas and build trust, understanding and consensus for action around the areas of mutual interest for inclusion in the post-2015 development agenda.”

This conference also reflects the policy priority among the g7+ group of countries to ensure that the needs of fragile and conflict affected states are reflected in the post-2015 development agenda. The g7+ is a country-owned and country-led global mechanism to monitor, report and draw attention to the unique challenges faced by fragile states. The goal of the g7+ is to “stop conflict, build nations and eradicate poverty through innovative development strategies, harmonized to the country context, aligned to the national agenda and led by the State and its People.”

For further information on the Dili International Conference please visit the conference website here.

A recent speech given in Monrovia by Chair of the g7+, Her Excellency Emilia Pires, is available here, and provides additional background to some of the post-2015 priorities that will be on the table at the conference.