Governments should strengthen their engagement with co-operatives as partners to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the Ministerial Declaration of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
The text that includes co-operatives can be found in paragraph 20: “We emphasize that the scale and level of ambition of the 2030 Agenda require strengthening and promoting effective and transparent multi-stakeholder partnerships, including public-private partnerships, by enhancing engagement of governments with global, regional and subregional bodies and programmes, the scientific community, the private sector, the donor community, non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, community groups, academic institutions, and other relevant actors.”
The HLPF convened in New York on 10-19 July 2017, the occasion for UN Member States to review progress towards achieving the SDGs. This year, 43 Member States gave voluntary reviews, 77 high-level government representatives attended and 2458 stakeholders, including representatives of the Alliance, participated.
The Ministerial Declaration is the outcome document of the HLPF outlining achievements and future areas for improvement.
In addition to participating in the HLPF, the Alliance was also invited to speak during the UN Expert Group Meeting on SDG 2, which relates to zero hunger. The Alliance’s intervention raised awareness about cooperatives and their contributions to sustainable development. The Alliance also made suggestions to the Ministerial Declaration, including the reference to co-operatives that is reflected in the final draft.
The 2017 HLPF focused on SDGs 1 (poverty), 2 (hunger), 3 (health), 5 (gender equality), 9 (infrastructure), and 14 (marine resources).
