Sustainable development begins with sustainable engagement
As part of the collaboration between IAP2 and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), a delegation visited Sri Lanka late last year to scope the context and design requirements for the country’s engagement approach for the development of their Voluntary National Review (VNR).
The VNR is a report that countries deliver to the United Nations on the progress of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These reports are delivered to the High Level Political Forum in New York each year.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Wildlife has been leading the engagement of stakeholders in the development of Sri Lanka’s VNR, with UNESCAP, IAP2 and the UN Country Team providing inputs on the process of engagement.
In December 2017, UNESCAP & IAP2 in partnership with the Sri Lanka UN Country Team spent three days in Colombo meeting with various Ministries, Civil Society Organisations, Business and Academia to get a deeper feel of the country, its current approach to engagement and what form engagement in the VNR process could take. Many insights were shared and as you might expect with a very hospitable culture and being one of the worlds premium producers of tea, each meeting included tea and cake!
All the groups we met expressed similar concerns that we would find in Australia and New Zealand. It seems that issues of tight budgets, timeframes and working through the various layers of reporting is something we share with those interested in engagement in Sri Lanka. So next time you are feeling isolated as an engagement practitioner, know that there are people around the world, facing similar challenges.
The trip was a strong confirmation that the IAP2 Core Values and people’s desire to be part of decision making are common across the world.
In April 2018, the Ministry and UNESCAP, IAP2 and the UN Country Team collaborated once again. Over 200 people from around the country converged in Colombo to review key elements of the VNR process and the country’s first use of an online engagement platform was announced by the Minister for Sustainable Development and Wildlife.
Long term the plan is to leverage off the momentum generated by the VNR to extend the conversation about how engagement will continue through to the ongoing delivery of the sustainable development agenda in Sri Lanka.
Over 200 people in Columbo, exploring key elements of the countries Voluntary National Review
The ‘dream team’. Dhilmi Suriyarachchi (UNCT), Mohamed Husni, (UNCT), Arun Jacobs (UNESCAP), Joel Levin (IAP2), Pasansi Wijayananda (UNCT), Sandra Aslund, (UNCT)
UNCT = UN Country Team in Sri Lanka.