How we work
The Global Forum’s mission is to promote national-level multi-stakeholder engagement in government’s planning, implementation and reporting of the SDGs. Our means of achieving it, takes many forms and is guided by the needs of our members.
Our goals
The forum seeks to:
- bring organisations together to enable exchanges between members and strategic partners
- enable the sharing of insights and learning with others in the network
- provide opportunities for members to showcase their work
- help members to be better informed about global policy cycles for delivering the SDGs.
Working towards the common vision of a sustainable future for the planet
Members and their partners take many forms and seek to influence and support their governments to achieve the SDGs in diverse and innovative ways. Some exist within the framework of government while others are pressure groups and other types of organisations influencing policy and practice from outside.
Receptiveness by governments to the work of members vary and sharing examples of success and the learnings from failure enable peer progress amongst our membership.
Examples of approaches that have been trialled with positive outcomes include:
- Using digital tools to capture and disseminate data that show progress towards the SDGs involving members in Colombia, Kosovo, Philippines, and Tanzania
- Stakeholder mapping and the use of regional dialogues by members in Benin, Cameroun, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
- Introducing national dialogues, called Sustainable Forums and regional events for sharing best practice, experiences, and challenges related to the SDGs by members in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Mexico.
Enabling exchange
The Global Forum enables exchanges between members and strategic partners in a variety of ways:
- practitioner-based communities of practice to enable learning on themes identified as being of most interest and importance in their local achievement of the SDGs
- working groups that pool knowledge to support the development of innovative trans-national tools
- webinars and events that present cutting-edge knowledge and insight to a wider audience and showcase member’s work.
- sharing insights and knowledge largely, to date, though commissioned reports and, in the future, short practitioner-focused guides and ‘How to…’ notes, but also by contributing to research. Find all our publications here.
- regional exchange to enable learning in similar context situations on the African continent and in Latin America and the Caribbean
Communities of practice
Our communities of practice (CoP) provide opportunities for peer -to- peer sharing of experiences learning about how best to support national governments and processes in working towards the SDGs.
The three current communities of practice are:
1. Using Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) to drive localization of the SDGs and inform Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs)
Objective: to gather experience, develop and share best practice on various challenges surrounding VLRs and their links to VNRs, and produce outputs such as guidelines, summaries of best practice and ‘how to’ notes that provide practical insights on these issues
Involved Global Forum members:
- Gvantska Akiashvili (CENN)
- Dardan Abazo (INDEP)
- Reynald Maeda (UNA)
- Carmen Mollo (ANC)
- Hannah Janetschek (RNE)
- Richard Kimbowa (UCSD)
- Stephen Chacha
Global Forum strategic partners:
- Stefan and Adriana Jungcurt (IISD)
- Amson Sibanda (UN DESA)
- Andreas Gude (GIZ)
- Tom Harrison (TPI)
2. Leave No One Behind (with a focus on youth)
Objective: to focus on the inequalities faced by marginalised groups, such as youth, addressing the following challenge: ‘How can we as advisory bodies contribute to education and information sharing about the SDGs towards youth and other marginalised groups?’
Involved Global Forum members:
- Armand Vignon (MdSC Benin)
- Armando Espino (FUDIS)
- Sofia Suarez (FARO)
- Salimata Bocoum Ep Diop (CONGAD)
- Arjun Bhattarai (Nepal SDG Forum)
- Carlos Miranda (FUDESO)
- Valentina Botero Sanchez (DNP)
- Georgette Gnangon (ISCODDCI)
Global Forum strategic partners:
- Claire Schiettecatte (IFDD)
3. Transformative action towards structural change to achieve the 2030
Objective: to foster learning and dialogue, and broker knowledge on the transformative actions toward structural change to achieve the 2030 Agenda, through assessing challenges and barriers that hinder transformation and acceleration; identifying and documenting relevant best practice and understanding the enabling environment for the transformative actions.
Involved Global Forum members:
- Alfredo Gonzalez Reyes (Mexico's 2030 Agenda National Council)
- Carlos Applewhaite (PIOJ)
- Maria Rosario Lopez (Jamie V. Ongoing Foundation)
- Roshni Nuggehalli (WNTA)
- Carlos Miranda (FUDESO)
- David Gonzales Bernal (ProPacifico)
- Augustin Kola (GT-OSC-ODD)
- Beauty North (CSO Platform on SDGs Ghana)
- Hannah Janetschek (RNE)
Global Forum strategic partners:
- David Horan (Stakeholder Forum)
Working groups
Working groups with roadmaps of action were established in the first two years of the network and have implemented various sustainability activities at local and national level, including research, monitoring of indicators and data as well as production of knowledge and advocacy through stakeholder engagement.
The working groups and their current status are:
- Multistakeholder platform processes and regional cooperation for national SDG -delivery in sub-Saharan Africa (COMPLETE)
- SDG stakeholder mapping in Francophone West-Africa (ONGOING)
- Governance for successful SDG advisory bodies (COMPLETE)
- City movers towards VLRs-digital tracking -platforms for municipalities (COMPLETE)
- Advocacy for sustainable development in Latin America and the Carribean (ONGOING)