Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Skip to main content

SWA at the 71th UNGA: global partnerships for women, children and adolescents

Anonymous
15 Sep 2016

SWA co-organized a high-level event on the power of partnering for women, children, and adolescents, at the 71th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Other organizers included Every Woman Every Child, Global Partnership for Education, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and Zero Hunger Challenge. This event took place on 20 September at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and featured high-level speakers such as President Michelle Bachelet, of Chile, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, and Dr. David Nabarro, the UN Secretary-General Special Adviser on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

The Hon. Kevin Rudd, SWA’s Chair, was part of a panel discussion on developing a unified approach for putting women, children and adolescents at the heart of the national and local agendas. Speakers showcased how different partnerships can work better together across sectors to catalyse transformation and support countries to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The event reflected the leadership of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who addressed the audience in a video message and highlighted the hard work and commitment to bringing together an array of different actors to unite around some of the most intractable challenges that people face in their daily lives. “From the time he assumed office, the Secretary-General recognized that partnership brings results and he focused on the power of partnering as a specific element of the United Nations’ work,” said Dr. David Nabarro, Special Adviser Special Advisor on 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

 

Other panelists at the event included:

      • Vivian Onano (Kenya) , Partnerships Manager SEED Project, WaterAid America Youth Ambassador & Women Deliver Young Leader.
      • H.E. Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria, President of the Republic of Chile
      • H.E Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
      • Mr Tony Lake, Executive Director, Unicef
      • Mr Danny Sriskandarajah, Secretary General and CEO of CIVICUS
      • The Hon. Mr Kevin Rudd, Chair, Sanitation and Water for All
      • Ms. Alice Albright, CEO, Global Partnership for Education
      • Mr. Saber Chowdhury, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
      • Ms. Monica Musonda , CEO, Java Foods
      • Dr. Tim Evans, Senior Director of Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group

 

The event also featured interventions by: H.E. Ms. Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie of Canada; H.E Ms. Julia Duncan-Cassell, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Liberia; Ms. Helle Thoring Schmidt – CEO Save the Children International; H.E Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Netherlands; H.E Honourable Isaac Folorunso Adewole, Minister of Health, Nigeria; H.E. Ms. Tone Skogen, Deputy Foreign Minister, Norway; Mark Suzman, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Global Policy & Advocacy , Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

To close the event, young leaders from various organizations, including White Ribbon Alliance, Save the Children, Women Deliver and PMNCH, offered their interpretation of the principles of partnership contained in the [wpdm_hotlink id=912 link_label="Partnership Playbook"] launched at the event. The young leaders were: Elman Nsinda, Anoyara Khatun, Yosef Ahmed Terku, Patrick Mwesigye, Gogontlejang Phaladi, Tikhala Itaye, Fsahat UI Hassan, Salam Abukhadrah, Hiba Nabulsi and Jasmine George.

 

See more photos of the event

 

Principles of Partnership

We are country led:

          • Our partnerships are driven by committed countries and their national priorities. We commit to ensuring that countries are at the centre of all efforts to ensure sustainability.

 

We are rights based:

          • Our partnerships will act in accordance with a commitment to uphold the equity, equality and rights of all women, men and children, (building upon the firm foundation of United Nations purposes and principles, as set out in the Charter, and the rights based instruments that guide our partnerships) – ensuring that no-one is left behind.

 

We are inclusive:

          • Our partnerships are open to a broad range of stakeholders, including government, civil society, private sector, academia, donors, United Nations agencies – who demonstrate their commitment to our goals and principles. A multi-stakeholder approach is critical for delivering on the promise of the 2030 Agenda.

 

We are transparent about our intentions and impact:

          • Our partnerships commit to establishing rigorous evaluations of the impacts of collective action and the contributions of our individual partners.

 

We will be predictable and mutually accountable:

          • Our partnerships will work towards shared outcomes and uphold and strengthen accountability of our partners’ commitments and actions.

 

We will be evidence-based:

          • We will pursue and support evidence-based priorities that will achieve the greatest sustainable impact for the resources available.

 

We will communicate conscientiously:

          • Across our partners’ countries, sectors and stakeholders we will strive to learn and adapt our ways of working, through the sharing of lessons on what works and what does not - informing progress toward achieving all SDGs.

 

We will act with integrity and in an ethical manner:

          • Our partners will manage personal and institutional conflicts of interest with integrity, be consistent with national laws and national development strategies and plans, and align with the priorities of countries with whom we are working.

 

We are mutually respectful:

          • Our partnerships will collaborate in a way that builds trust and respects the contributions and perspectives of other stakeholders.

 

We will do no harm:

          • We will encourage actions that contribute to improving the well-being of all people, with careful consideration about negative consequences to people and planet, and clear mitigation strategies.