SDG Implementation Support Office in Geneva

The 2030 Agenda was adopted by Member States in New York in September 2015. Since then, the Secretary General appointed a Special Advisor to work with Member States and other relevant stakeholders to accelerate action on implementation of the 2030 Agenda. As the operational hub of the UN and host city to many of the UN and non UN entities, humanitarian and development partners, private companies, civil society organisations and policy making platforms, Geneva has a particularly important role to play in ensuring the world delivers on its commitment. The 2030 Agenda presents a new momentum to catalyse on the roles of these players all present in Geneva.

The aim of this contribution is to strengthen the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development.

The direct target group are the UN and other specialised agencies present in Geneva as well as key stakeholders from private sector (including the World Economic Forum), non-governmental organisations (including SDC partners such as South Centre, the Millennium Institute, the International Institute for Sustainable Development) and academia, such as the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

The key objective of this project will be the establishment of an “SDG Implementation Support Office” within United Nations Office in Geneva that will strengthen the network amongst Geneva actors and also ensure links across the global multilateral hubs. Success will be determined by the ability of the SDG Implementation Support Office to apply and reinforce a truly multi-stakeholder approach as well as its ability to link and leverage the technical know-how from Geneva with the realities and needs at country level.

Resultados previstos:  

The first concrete output that can be expected will be the delivery of a strategy for the SDG Implementation Support Office within the first 6 months, which will be shared with SDC. Concrete outputs within the first year will include panels, events as well as specific communication tools. The quality of these outputs will be determined by whether they manage to break the UN silo and truly draw from a broad range of stakeholders. In addition, they must directly relate to clear needs from the field (breaking away from the UN “ivory tower”).

This is a mirror and complement to the support on the Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development based in New York. In addition, synergies exist with regard to Switzerland’s support to build up an effective monitoring and review mechanism for the 2030 Agenda as well as Switzerland’s engagement to strengthen the operational effectiveness of the UN Development system.

Synergies also exist with the Federal Council’s Dispatch on International Geneva which aims to strengthen Geneva as platform on global governance as well as strengthen its position as the central hub for certain themes (health, water etc). In this regard, SDC has been in close consultation with the FDFA’s Division on International Organisations in preparing this proposal.

Fase 1 01.08.2016 - 31.12.2020   (Completed)