Towards thematic reviews for an integrated follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda

Towards thematic reviews for an integrated follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda

Plenary discussion -What are our signposts and steps to be taken? Key elements and features of the 2030 Agenda Thematic Reviews for the High-level Political Forum 20176 (and beyond), through the lens of natural resources and food/nutrition security

8 July 10.00-12.00 p.m.

Double Tree by Hilton

Thank you for giving me the floor,

This event has generated some interesting exchanges. FAO is honored to be part of this conversation. In my remarks, I will try to answer three guiding questions that I received.

 

First question: How can international organizations contribute to incorporating and empowering alternative voices in review processes?

There are many ways to answer this question, but I want to focus on one element: our convening capacity. We are in constant contact with civil society, private sector, academia and other actors. We work with them and we involve them in the discussions taking place in FAO.

At the beginning of the post-2015 process, for example, FAO, IFAD and WFP supported a global consultation on hunger, food security and nutrition involving small-scale producers, rural women, youth, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, and others. This dialogue also involves, of course, building bridges between non-state actors and governments.

Let me say that, at FAO, we are firm supporters of inclusive governance mechanisms, and the Committee on World Food Security is a good example.

 

This brings me to the second question I was asked to address: What can we expect to learn from a thematic review in relation to roles of small-scale farmers and civil society organizations and how to bring them to the table?

Well, we can expect to learn many things. Civil society organizations gives voices to people that are not always heard through formal representation. This participation enriches the debate and decision-making process. And farmers not only produce the food we eat but they are also our natural resource managers. They can help us understand what decisions need to be made at different levels to ensure that they can meet their productive potential and do so sustainably.

I want to stress that we cannot see civil society or rural communities as merely beneficiaries of outside assistance. They are and must be considered agents of change, essential partners in sustainable development.

 

Finally, the third question I was asked: How can international organizations feed into Thematic Reviews that help in establishing sustainable, resilient, self-financing mechanisms in countries?

Again, there are many different ways to answer this question. Following what I have said before. International organizations can help create spaces for participation of non-state actors at all levels; help systematize the ideas, comments and positions generated; and help bring these into the global debate.

The UN is also well placed to help understand the trade-offs between conservation and use of natural resources.

Another important element to keep in mind is that specialized agencies already compile data and carry out many reviews and analysis that contributes to the follow up and review of the 2030 Development Agenda. FAO, for example, produces regular flagships on the state of food insecurity, agriculture, fisheries forests that we believe are valuable input to this process.

I would also like to address the importance of data to track progress on the SDGs. We need data and we need it to be disaggregated by gender, rural and urban areas, income and so on. Ensuring that countries have the capacity to monitor all 169 SDG indicators will be an enormous task. But better data helps us understand what we can do more and better.

Finally, I would like to recall a comment made yesterday by the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone. Our focus needs to be at the ground level. We need global conversations, we need data, we need to follow up and review, but most importantly we need to filter everything back down to the local communities if we are to have concrete results.

Thank you.