MGA HLPF Series: MGA Advocacy Points for HLPF

As a member of the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Major Group, Mercy Global Action has signed on as a supporter of the NGO MG Position Paper, which was submitted to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) as a contribution to the 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The Paper calls for a “holistic, coherent, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder” and human rights approach to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Position Paper can be accessed at this link.

Below we highlight some of calls to Member States and the UN Institutions in the Position Paper with regards to three of the Sustainable Development Goals under review.

Sustainable Development Goal 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

• Implement a human rights based approach to decent work and economic growth that includes the rights to decent work for marginalized people…
• Eliminate indecent, harmful and forced labour including debt bondage, human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery;

Sustainable Development Goal 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries

• Ensure policies that enable all people of all ages to enjoy their human rights to food, decent work, water and sanitation, education, healthcare and housing, culture, free from direct or indirect discrimination;
• Commit to and enforce migration policies that reduce inequalities for migrants, refugees, and displaced persons and uphold their human rights identity, and dignity;

Sustainable Development Goal 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

• Align actions with the Paris Agreement, and jointly coordinate local, national, regional policies…
• Recognize traditional ecological knowledge systems ... to combat climate change and to strengthen resilience;
• Increase donor funding for developing sustainable local/territorial/regional food systems in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States to reduce disaster risks and to strengthen resilience;
• Analyse and make visible the impacts of climate change and climate related disasters on women, and girls ...

These advocacy points are align with the work of MIA: MGA under its two thematic areas: degradation of earth and displacement of persons. However, we recognise the interrelatedness and interdependence of all of the SDGs, and therefore advocate for the implementation of all seventeen SDGs to ensure no one is left behind.

Messages to: Angela Reed rsm - MIA-MGA Coordinator