NGO Collaboration Seeks Greater Accountability in the SDGs

By Health and Human Rights communications assistant Gabrielle Tyson
The Post-2015 Development Agenda is under way and while many of the new Sustainable Development Goals will likely remain the same as for the MDGs, there is a need for a more effective and robust mechanism to review States’ progress in achieving these goals.  The Center for Reproductive Rights, Amnesty International, The Center for Economic and Social Rights, and Human Rights Watch have collaborated to create a monitoring and accountability framework for States to review their progress, both domestically and internationally, to improve what is not working and maintain the programs and policies that are. They argue that the review process should be a priority, and the absence of such a process previously likely contributed to the major shortfalls of the MDGs: specifically, improving maternal health and increasing global partnership.

The proposal, “Accountability for the Post-2015 Agenda: A Proposal for a Robust Global Review Mechanism,” highlights three key factors and the resources and procedures required in a successful review mechanism.

The three key factors are:

  • Robust monitoring and accountability should be required and considered integral to the success of the Agenda, not just an add-on.
  • This new Agenda will be inclusive of States at all income levels and therefore accountability is universal and not conditional.
  • The review process should include both implementation domestically and, on a global level, should examine each State’s impact on the Agenda’s progress beyond their borders.

In order for the review mechanism to be continuously useful and ultimately successful, the proposal also lists a number of necessary procedures:

  • A culture of universal participation
  • An interactive dialogue
  • A review of every state three times between 2016 and 2030
  • Comprehensive reporting
  • Sufficient support and meeting time
  • Open, participatory, and transparent modalities and a meaningful role for civil society
  • A web of effective monitoring and accountability

This proposal seeks to hold the participating States in the Post-2015 Agenda accountable to their commitment.  The review mechanism would be large, well-established, and would possess the resources to ensure not only that each State is moving effectively towards the Post-2015 Agenda goals but would also work with each State to be more inclusive, transparent, resourceful, and ultimately successful in the pursuit of those goals.

The collaboration is seeking endorsement of the proposal from other organizations.