September 2021

AFGHAN FACES AND VOICES OF COURAGE

BY MakeMothersMatter

August 15th saw the collapse of the Afghan government and a return to power by the Taliban. At MMM, like much of the rest of the world, we were shocked at the speed with which change came about.

Uppermost in our thoughts then as now, was the safety of the many women, mothers and girls with whom we launched our campaign #RaiseAPen, to raise awareness of the importance of girls’ education for a sustainable future for Afghanistan. So were our civil society partners, the Rahela Trust for Afghan women’s education, and Mothers for Peace, who for years have been committed to creating opportunities for women in diverse Afghan communities, and with whom we have been working closely on our campaign since 2019.

In the immediate aftermath of the takeover, the Rahela Trust has been offering emergency support, mentorship and morale building to their scholars who now face an uncertain future, and many other young women at risk.

Mothers For Peace (MFP), that has been active in Afghanistan since 2003, initiating many educational, medical, agricultural and production projects, has also acted in support of their committed Afghan partners. In the midst of all the ensuing chaos, whilst courageous Afghan women showed their faces and raised their voices: “Work, education and political participation is every woman’s right”, MFP launched a repatriation program that saw 47 vulnerable Afghan individuals successfully make it to Belgium.

MFP General Manager in Afghanistan, Razia Arefi, a mother of two, was amongst the families that managed to leave Kabul. In the video, she expresses her deepest hope that “Afghan women will not be forgotten” and adds:

“We are someone, not no one”.

As the UN and the EU continue their immediate priority – humanitarian assistance – to stave off a crisis that threatens to affect millions of Afghan people, we at MMM carry on reinforcing our stand with Afghan mothers and girls, united in their determination to preserve their rights to education and the democratic gains of the last 20 years.

In our advocacy work, we will pursue along the same lines as we did before the Taliban took over, building on the same and probably only leverage that the international community has (see here the European Parliament’s June 2021 Resolution linking future development aid with the rights of Afghan women and girls).

The Conference on the Future of Europe – How could it be used to advance Agenda 2030 in Europe?

By SDG Watch Europe

On 28. September 2021, one of our members from Finland, FINGO hosted an event on how the Conference on the Future of Europe could be useful to advance Agenda 2030 in Europe.

“In the absence of an overarching strategy for implementing 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, civil society organisations and other stakeholders are calling for a rethink on how to make policymaking more collaborative, inclusive, transparent, and therefore more effective for stakeholders at all levels” (FINGO).

The Conference on the Future of Europe is a short-term civil-society engagement mechanism established by the European Commission for European citizens and other stakeholders to engage in the design of Europe’s common future. Could this be one solution for more stakeholder participation and structured dialogue between stakeholders, citizens and the European Commission, Parliament and the Council?

These questions were be considered in this webinar, organised as part of the European Sustainable Development Week to promote active engagement on sustainable development.

As SDG Watch Europe, we attended the event, and engaged in the 15-minute discussion.

Here the main key considerations from the webinar:

We (CSOs and individuals) must prevent the Conference from becoming a “EU-bubble” Conference
If the majority stays silent, the voices heard will be the ones of demagogues, and people who already have a say in EU policymaking
To prevent this, we must mobilize ALL citizens – regardless of their field of work, class, gender, nationality
The Conference could have been built directly on Agenda 2030/SGDs, since all themes are part of it

Overall, the event gave participants the possibility to reflect on the main goal of the Conference, which is to allow for civic engagement; yet, it also gave the possibility to consider the flaws and possible discrepancies that lay within the initiative.

Health equity for Romani people in the context of Europe’s recovery and resilience

By SDG Watch Europe and EPHA and Eurodiaconia

Two of SDG Watch Europe members, EPHA and Eurodiaconia, are co-organising an online event on health equity for Romani people in the context of Europe’s recovery and resilience plans.

WHEN?
28 September 2021
15:00-17:00 CET

Taking place during Roma Week 2021, the discussion also aims to provide a space for structured dialogue between European and national policymakers, civil society organisations, service providers, and Roma advocates involved in the design of national and local policies to build health equity.

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Please find more on the programme here.

Declaration of the 2021 People’s Assembly

By SDG Watch Europe

Last week, we hosted the European Assembly, where we spoke about the implementation of the SDGs in the European Union, the challenges that refugees are facing, and the SDG Alliance.

The Global People’s Assembly is now over, and we would like to thank every one, organizers, co-hosts, participants, for making the events such a success. Although the Global People’s Assembly is over, the activism does not stop now! Our demands to the UN General Assembly have been put into a declaration that we have all created together over the past week.

Click here to read the declaration: We The People Resist Being Left Behind

We want to continue to momentum from the Global People’s Assembly in promoting the declaration, and so we invite you share the people’s declaration with more people!

Discussion on The Eastern Partnership CSOs integration and focus on the Belarusian CSOs situation in Lithuania

By the Lithuanian NGDO Platform

Most Belarusian democratic NGOs are not able to work freely in their country. Civil society development is mainly limited by state institutions that form an unfavorable legal environment, persecute and punish CSO leaders, create obstacles for establishing CSOs, gatherings, etc.

In Lithuania, Belarusian civil society is being strengthened using various measures: financial support for Belarusians and their organisations; permission to arrive and reside in Lithuania under simplified conditions; providing opportunities to transfer and successfully develop their activities in Lithuania; helping the youth to aim for higher education, and providing assistance to the victims of repressions and pressure in their own country. Lithuanian Government institutions – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first and foremost – should prepare a clear action plan related to Belarusian NGOs, which would include: defining the direction and the scope for actions taken by competent institutions; gathering and systematising the required information as well as adapting it to strengthen Belarusian NGOs in Lithuania; establishing a Council for Belarusian NGO issues made up of interinstitutional and/or Lithuanian NGO representatives.

Although NGO legal environment in Lithuania is perceived as positive, and both the benefits and the assistance provided seem to be sufficient, Belarusian NGOs are still facing various challenges.

The NGO Law Instituted conducted the situation report “Eastern partnership and Lithuania: Challenges for NGOs, solutions and opportunities. Case study: Belarus” in August 2021.

Full report in Lithuanian

Summary in English

More information: https://www.vbplatforma.org/EN/projects/agenda

Registration to the activity via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5dlrjknAQ7efHb6xjOiAdA

Mobilisation campaign to act for SDGs in Latvia

By Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation (LAPAS)

On September 20th, the Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation (LAPAS), in collaboration with the Latvian Multistakeholder Coalition, has launched an information campaign on the mobilisation of regional communities to act for SDGs implementation. The campaign’s motto is “Target the development!” (in Latvian: “Mērķē attīstībā!”).

The campaign’s focus will be awareness-raising on the Sustainable Development Goals and a call to action for implementations of SDGs.

The plan is to involve at least 30 active community stakeholders all around the country, including municipalities, educational institutions, libraries, museums, civil society organisations. These stakeholders will coordinate educational workshops, online campaigns, and activities to find local problems and their solutions and build community resilience and global competencies.

All identified problems will be presented by LAPAS and the Latvian Multistakeholder Coalition to national decision-makers. The solutions found and proposed during workshops will be submitted to the Conference on the Future of Europe platform.

The campaign will run until the end of November 2021, culminating in the Final Conference held during the Global Education Week 2021.

The campaign is financed by the EEA and Norwegian grants, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the European Union and the Council of Europe.

SDG Watch Europe distributed the World’s best news

By SDG Watch Europe

On September 10th 2021, from 362 points across Denmark, distributors gave the World’s Best Morning newspaper to passers-by.

Every year, Verdens Bedste Nyheder hosts the “World’s Best Morning” to spread information on the challenges and progress of the Global Goals. This year, the theme was Sustainable Cities, SDG 11.

Members of SDG Watch Europe based in Denmark woke up early in the morning to represent the alliance and joined Nyt Europa’s activists. Together, we started at 06.30 AM at Nybrogade, located in the beautiful heart of Copenhagen, where Nyt Europa’s office is based. We prepared coffee, packed the newspapers and enthusiastically walked towards Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square) while the warm Danish sun slowly woke up the city. We carried boxes of hundreds of small leaflets with the World’s Best News and hundreds of chocolates ready to be handed out to the early birds of Copenhagen.

We arrived at Rådhuspladsen at 7 AM sharp. Slowly sipping coffee and handing the first dozens of leaflets, we saw the city waking up. At 8.30 AM, the city was awake: more full speed cyclists and passers-by grabbing newspapers from our hands, and bus drivers smiling at us. Only a few were passers-by, a few were cyclists, and a few were cars.

Nyt Europa activists and SDG Watch Europe in Rådhuspladsen

But we were only a few among the total of 2567 volunteers who, on that morning, have pulled on the white t-shirt with the orange “World’s Best News” logo. The rest were scattered around Denmark. Activists were youngsters, politicians, volunteers, students, ambassadors, journalists.

Activists were all around the city. In collaboration with Caritas, a group of dancers from Copenhagen Contemporary Dance School performed to draw people’s attention and raise awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Klara Trane, from Mellemfolkelig Samvirke, described The World’s Best News as “cool, wonderful and fantastic journalism that provides a counterpoint to the other news that mostly spreads negative news. Of course, everything should not be on the pink cloud, but it is important to also talk about the positive ”, reported World’s Best News on their website.

To end the morning, a wonderful morning full of hope and activism, ambassadors from the Netherlands and Albania and Jens Christian Wandel, chairman of the United Nations and former adviser to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, helped hand out the newspapers too.

We were glad to be part of this great initiative devoted to spreading constructive news on progress and solutions to the world’s challenges. We would also be happy to participate in the future.

Africadag, Climate Justice

By Women Engage for A Common Future (WECF)

This year’s Afrikadag, organised by Foundation Max van der Stoel (FMS), focused on climate justice. The week featured several inspiring online events to which Women Engage for A Common Future (WECF) contributed. Read more about the engaging conversation between WECF and their partner Action for Rural Women’s Empowerment (ARUWE) and have a look at the recap of the launch event of the new study “Climate justice: African perspectives & EU policies.” Kirsten Meijer – WECF NL Director and FMS Vice Chair – was one of the event’s panellists and gave a passionate speech about the need for this type of research that focuses both on stories and solutions. Worth a read HERE!

The changing nature of evaluation in education and its impact on learners’ well-being

By Lifelong Learning Platform – European Civil Society for Education

How do assessment methods impact the well-being of learners (and educators)? In tearing apart the relationship between assessments and well-being in its annual theme, the Lifelong Learning platform is publishing a series of articles to debunk some of the myths related to well-being in education. Find out more on the links between assessment and inequalities and why high-stress-inducing exams are never helpful (not even to prepare for the future). Discover LLLP’s annual theme.

SDG Watch Europe distributed the World’s Best News last week

On the 10th of September 2021, from 362 points across Denmark, distributors gave the World’s Best Morning newspaper to passers-by.

Every year, Verdens Bedste Nyheder hosts the “World’s Best Morning”, with the intention of spreading information on challenges and progress of the Global Goals. This year, the theme was Sustainable Cities, SDG 11.

Members of SDG Watch Europe based in Denmark woke up early in the morning to represent the alliance, and joined Nyt Europa’s activists. Together, we started at 06.30 AM at Nybrogade, located in the beautiful heart of Copenhagen, where Nyt Europa’s office is based. We prepared coffee, packed the newspapers and enthusiastically walked towards Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square), while the warm Danish sun was slowly waking up the city. We carried boxes of hundreds of small leaflets with the World’s Best News, and hundreds of chocolates ready to be handed out to the early birds of Copenhagen.

We arrived at Rådhuspladsen at 7AM sharp. By then, only few were the passers-by, few were the cyclists, and few were the cars. Slowly sipping coffee and handing the first dozens of leaflets, we saw the city waking up. At 8.30AM the city was awake: more full speed cyclists and passers-by grabbing newspapers from our hands, and bus drivers smiling at us.

*Nyt Europa activists and SDG Watch Europe in Rådhuspladsen*

But we were only a few among the total of 2567 volunteers who on that morning, have pulled on the white t-shirt with the orange “World’s Best News” logo. The rest were scattered around Denmark. Activists were youngsters, politicians, volunteers, students, ambassadors, journalists.

Activists were all around the city. A group of dancers from Copenhagen Contemporary Dance School in collaboration with Caritas, performed to draw people’s attention and raise awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Klara Trane, from Mellemfolkelig Samvirke described The World’s Best News as “cool, wonderful and fantastic journalism that provides a counterpoint to the other news that mostly spreads negative news. Of course, everything should not be on the pink cloud, but it is important to also talk about the positive ”, reported World’s Best News on their website.

To end the morning, a wonderful morning full of hope and activism, ambassadors from the Netherlands and Albania, as well as Jens Christian Wandel, chairman of the United Nations and former adviser to UN Secretary-General António Guterres helped handing out the newspapers too.

We were glad to be part of this great initiative, an initiative devoted to the spread of constructive news on progress and solutions to the world’s challenges. We would also be happy to participate in the future.