Peace, justice and inclusion at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery
Achieving the SDG targets for peaceful, just and inclusive societies (SDG16+) targets was always going to be a colossal challenge.
Even before COVID-19, more than half a million people died from violence every year; half of the world’s children and at least a third of women were victims of violence, and more than five billion people lacked access to justice. The pandemic is exacerbating these trends and is tearing apart the fabric of our countries’ economic, social, and political foundations. It has taken mere months to obliterate decades of development efforts. The most profound socio-economic shock witnessed since WWII is fueling rising inequality, exacerbating grievances, and increasing the risk of violence and exploitation.
The Pathfinders and other member states and partners in the global community stand united in parallel calls to action (Pathfinders' Member States' statement and Act Now for SDG16+). These statements outline the solutions we urgently need to assist countries in their recovery and avoid further global polarization, tensions, violence and breakdown. Together they stress the urgency to ensure that SDG16+ resides at the heart of global recovery.
We must look forward and address the most pressing priorities in areas of justice, inequality, exclusion and violence reduction. This is a requirement for achieving the UN Common Agenda and all other SDGs. Costa Rica and the Netherlands will host a virtual dialogue on 18 November 2020, bringing together SDG16+ leaders to discuss the way forward and how to turn resolve into action.
Objectives
This high-level event will:
• Amplify the call for peace, inclusion and justice to serve as the engine of response and recovery efforts through strong and sustained political leadership.
• Promote a conversation on the links between the UN Common Agenda, SDG16+ and the rest of the 2030 Agenda.
• Identify policy, programming, and financial actions with the greatest potential for transformation.
• Strengthen the global mobilization for SDG16+ by shining a spotlight with new partnerships, initiatives, and actions.
The event will be co-sponsored by Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive societies hosted by the NYU Center for International Cooperation, in collaboration with Costa Rica and the Netherlands.