REGISTER

The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2024 will be held in New York from July 8 to 17 under the theme ‘Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions. This year, Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peaceful, just, and strong institutions is under review at a crucial moment when violent conflicts are affecting many parts of the world. As we witness more widespread conflict and non-conflict violence together with an increasingly fractured multilateral system, growing distrust in public institutions, and rising inequalities worldwide, the international commitment to bring peace, justice and inclusion for all has never been more urgent. For charting more concerted pathways to meet this challenge, SDG 16 remains vital.

When the sustainable development goals were formulated in 2015, Member States and relevant stakeholders committed to achieving more inclusive, just and peaceful societies (SDG 16). However, there was a lack of necessary statistics and evidence to effectively monitor and measure progress and design fit-for-purpose policies, particularly in relation to SDG 16. Since 2015, UNDP, UNODC, OHCHR and several other agencies responsible for global data collection of SDG 16 indicators, have been working closely with national institutions and experts to develop methodologies and increase the availability of nationally relevant and globally comparable data on human rights, justice and governance. 

According to the 1st Global Progress Report on Peaceful, Just and Strong Institutions, there has been stagnation or regression in areas such as the reduction of violence, access to justice, inclusive governance and peaceful societies. While men are the most exposed to overall violence and to criminal justice, the situation for women is worse than for men in some areas – there are more women victims of sexual violence, they feel less safe around the area they live, and remain underrepresented at higher levels of decision-making in parliaments, public service and judiciary.

This year, the 2nd Global SDG 16 Report will offer the most up-to-date and rigorous evidence of advancements made and areas requiring immediate attention. The Report serves as an annual publication for monitoring progress towards the 2030 Agenda based on official statistics. It is intended to inform discussions at the upcoming SDG16 Review at the HLPF 2024 and the Summit of the Future. Additionally, the report highlights emerging trends and policy implications. 

This event will convene Member States, civil society representatives, experts and policy makers to discuss progress on SDG 16 with a focus on available data and with the aim to articulate a vision to accelerate SDG 16 in the 2nd half of the 2030 Agenda.

Our presenters and speakers are:

• Ms. Andreea Mocanu, Charge d’Affaires, Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations 
• H.E.  Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations 
• Mr. Haoliang Xu, Under Secretary General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
• Ms. Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights  
• Mr. Peter Sam-Kpakra, Development Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development of the Republic of Sierra Leone  
• Ms. Rosario Galarza, Intersectionalities and Cross-Movement Collaboration Senior Officer, International Disability Alliance  
• Mr. Henk-Jan Brinkman, Permanent Observer of the International Development Law Organization to the UN  
• Mr. Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 
• Moderated by Mr. Arvinn Gadgil, Director, Global Policy Centre for Governance, UNDP