The United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is the UN body responsible for monitoring the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs were adopted on September 25, 2015 as part of a new sustainable development agenda to “end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all,” which will run until 2030 (UN). The SDGs are much more inclusive than their predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ran from 2000 until 2015. There was no mention of anyone with disabilities in any of the Millennium Development Goals, whereas in the Sustainable Development Goals, there are 11 specific references to persons with disabilities. I would argue that this is a reflection of the growing awareness in the international community that it is important to include persons with disabilities. I think the inclusivity of the SDGs is a positive step in the right direction towards achieving full inclusion of persons with disabilities.

As we discussed in class, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is the ‘most inclusive and participatory forum at the United Nations.’ This is largely due to the ‘Major Groups and Other Stakeholders High Level Political Forum Coordination Mechanism’ (MGoS HLPF Coordination Mechanism) which is responsible for ensuring “broad, open, transparent and inclusive participation in the HLPF” (UN MGoS). All representatives of the nine Major Groups and all other active stakeholders in sustainable development are eligible for membership in this mechanism. This major groups framework allows for the participation of groups of people that are especially vulnerable, as the nine major groups are: women, children and youth, indigenous peoples, NGOs, local authorities, workers and trade unions, business and industry, scientific and technological community, and farmers.

It is so important for the body in charge of monitoring the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals to be as inclusive and participatory as the HLPF is. This goes back to the idea of “nothing about us without us” that we have discussed since the first class; those who are being affected by an agenda should be able to have a say in it. The MGoS HLPF Coordination Mechanism ensures that all groups and stakeholders involved are included and able to participate in the monitoring process of the SDGs.

Works Cited

1. High-level Political Forum .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf

2017. Major Groups and Other Stakeholders High Level Political Forum Coordination Mechanism Terms of Reference. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/12947HLPFMGoSCM-ToRJan2017.pdf

According to Lewis Branscomb, grand challenges are “technically complex societal problems that have stubbornly defied solution” (Branscomb 2015). Global “Grand Challenges” are such issues in international development for which international cooperation is necessary in order to reach a solution. Since 2010, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its public and private partners have launched ten Grand Challenges around which their programs and resources would go to addressing. These Grand Challenges include: Saving Lives at Birth, All Children Reading, Powering Agriculture and Combating Zika and Future Threats (USAID).

Persons with disabilities have historically been left out of opportunities and conversations. According to the WHO/World Bank Report, more than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability. It is estimated that about 15 percent of every country’s population is persons with disabilities, it is long overdue that they are now finally being slowly included into the conversation. The UN High-Level Meeting on Disability and Development called on the international community to enhance cooperation to “seize every opportunity to include disability as a cross cutting issue in the global development agenda” (WHO). Progress is beginning to be made, as the Sustainable Development Goals, which will run from 2015-2030, have 11 specific references to persons with disabilities and are focused on development for all. This is an improvement from the Millennium Development Goals, which ran from 2000-2015, in which persons with disabilities were not mentioned once.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted on December 13, 2006 as a human rights instrument to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.” The CRPD currently has 161 signatories, and has been ratified by 177 countries which have adopted national law to put it into place. The CRPD transfers disabilities from a medical model to a rights-based model, with the understanding that persons with disabilities should have equal access, and be included in issues that affect them (CRPD 2006). Inclusive Sustainable Development is itself a Grand Challenge that requires international cooperation, and the CRPD is one example of how states can commit to inclusion of persons with disabilities. In order to overcome this grand challenge of inclusive sustainable development, the international community must follow through with their commitments to inclusion of persons with disabilities.

Works Cited

Branscomb, L. (2015, May 15). A Focused Approach to Society’s Grand Challenges. Retrieved from https://issues.org/branscomb-4/

USAID. (n.d.). Grand Challenges for Development | U.S. Global Development Lab. Retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/grandchallenges

WHO. (2016, February 27). UN High-level Meeting on Disability and Development. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/disabilities/hlm/en/

The Internet plays an incredibly important role in modern sustainable development, as it facilitates global communication and increases access to information. As we discussed with the “digital divide,” one of the challenges of the Internet in sustainable development is the lack of equal access to Internet services around the world. Another challenge of the Internet was the lack of a set norms and regulations when it was first created, as the Internet is a shared resource that is not technically owned or governed by any particular person or place. “Internet governance” was designed to help shape ethical norms, rules, and regulations of the Internet as it continues to develop (UNESCO). Internet governance advocates for a free and open Internet that can be inclusively accessed and a place that respects privacy, cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity (UNESCO). Internet governance is a positive resource that works to ensure the Internet is a resource that provides a positive and inclusive experience for all.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held by the United Nations in 2003 and 2005 to address the complexities of modern digital communication (UNESCO). WSIS resulted in the development of the annual multistakeholder Internet Governance Forum  (UNESCO). The forum is a space for “International agencies, governments, Internet professionals, business and civil society organizations” to discuss the relationship between the Internet and different areas of public policy (UNESCO). The multistakeholder approach is effective because it is a toolbox of strong and adaptable practices that are used all over the world, and the approach is accepted as an international norm (Internet Society). The principles that the multistakeholder framework relies on include, “open-ended unleashed innovation (infrastructure), decentralized government institutions (governance), and open and inclusive processes (human)” (Internet Society). The multistakeholder approach emphasizes that inclusivity is directly connected to framework’s success, because inclusive decision-making allows for increased accountability and sustainability (Internet Society).

NETMundial, held in Brazil in 2014, was an important multistakeholder conference that gathered various international actors involved in Internet governance (NETMundial). The conference organized its participants into various committees, focusing on “the elaboration of principles of Internet governance and the proposal for a roadmap for future development of this ecosystem” (NETMundial). NetMundial was the first forum of its kind, with participants representing a diversity of 97 different countries (NETMundial). While NETMundial was the beginning of developing these policies in a global situation, we will need to create more forums like it as the Internet continues to be an increasingly important part of inclusive sustainable development initiatives.

Resources:

https://en.unesco.org/themes/internet-governance

Resource Library

http://netmundial.br/about/

This weeks reading were on ICTs and Inclusive Sustainable Development, ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology. The class discussed how having access to the internet and communication technology provides a means of leveling the playing field developing countries. Having access to the internet provides small business owners in developing countries the opportunity to access a market that they otherwise would have been completely shut out of. Additionally, ICT’s provide access to information in new and unprecedented ways that could not have happened a few hundred years ago. During this class the fact that technology is amazing was really driven home and made me think about how often we take it for granted here in the Untied States.

After doing research I found project pursued by major companies like Google and Facebook that are aiming to increase access to internet around the world. This question of access and discussion of what it means to make services and experiences more accessible to all proved to be strikingly similar to our conversations about disability inclusion. In a similar way, providing access increases quality of life of those who are marginalized without access and provides means for self sufficiency. Thinking about the parallels of ICTS and sustainable development made me think about our theoretical readings by Amartya Sen. Providing access does truly provide freedom. The creation of the United Nations is representative of a global governing body in which structure and means of freedom to its member states. I would argue that access to internet in developing areas is an extension of Sen’s theories on development, worldwide access that is being pursued by Google and Facebook is indicative of development proving freedom.

Interestingly enough in my international business class we often talk about the opportunities that large multinational corporations provide to developing nations. A debate often arises regarding what it more effective in developing countries, international aid or large corporations? ICT’s really fall into this debate because government  or governing bodies like the UN may provide guidance and suggestion to these companies but ultimately the internet is owned by large multinational corporations. It would be interesting to look at how Sen’s writing will be applied in the future and if development should be viewed as governance or business or perhaps both?

The United Nations Development Goals have targets and indicators that are meant to provide a way of measuring progress towards said goals. This is something that the prior Millennium Development Goals failed to do and were highly criticized for. The UN created the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) to act as a “central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, provides for the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States members of specialized agencies.” Within the United Nations there is also the presence of Major Groups. The Major Groups represent a variety of specialized individuals who are experts in marginalized communities because they are often representative of that community. Among these major groups are Women, Children and Youth, Indigenous Peoples, Workers and Trade Unions, and Persons with Disabilities.

This class session ended up being very important to formulating my own capstone project. My topic ended up looking into Goal 12 (Climate Change) target 12.8 aims to do the following:

“By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature” by the year 2030.” (UN SDG 12.8)

Indicator 12.8.1 aims to measure this target by looking at the following:

Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development (including climate change education) are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment (UN SDG. 12.1)

The goal of my project is to measure how the United States education system is contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by analyzing U.S. education standards related to climate change. It is fascinating to know how much meaning individual words within an official United Nations document have. When doing this reading and skimming over the term “major groups” it never crossed my mind that there was an entire system in place that gives meaning to the term major groups. I have a new found appreciation for the United Nations and all of the documents that are produced because I know how much meaning is beind all of them.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have become a critical component in in international development. However in order to understand the value of the UN SDG’s it is important to also understand what international development is from a theoretical and conceptual approach. This weeks readings went into defining international development by analyzing the writings of Amartya Sen and Sumner and Tribe.

My favorite points were made my Amartya Sen who viewed international development as a catalyst for change. At the time development from the west was majorly focused in economic development. However, Amartya Sen expanded on that idea and viewed development as freedom and contributed to the major indicators that people look at when defining development. Sen makes the point that development grants opportunities for freedom he furthermore provides evidence by looking at differences in developed areas as opposed to their less developed counterparts. This point is illustrated well in the following quote ““Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency. The removal of substantial unfreedoms, it is argued here, is constitutive of development.”  An interesting example given within the reading pertains to women’s freedom in countries that only burn fossil fuels vs countries that have more means of energy. Countries that stick only fossil fuels tend to have female populations that have less freedom of choice compared to more progressive countries.

When developing my capstone project keeping in mind the opportunities that derive from development will be important. The benefits of development provide more opportunities for persons with disabilities to have access to opportunities that they may otherwise be inhibited from. Living in the United States provides individuals the opportunity to look at already present standards and mechanisms in place and make everyday life more attainable for persons with disabilities. Perusing the same task in a society that does not have any of these mechanism, laws or enforcement in place provides more challenges.

On the first day of our Inclusive Sustainable Development course Professor Cogburn introduced the concept of a “Grand Challenge”.  Throughout history humanity has faced many of them, my favorite example used in class was humanities race to get to the moon. There was a period of time where great minds were coming together to solve this problem of taking humanity where they have not gone before. To understand whether or not we are alone in this vast universe or if there are others out there. Professor Cogburn related to this topic to the concept of a “moonshot”. A moonshot is taking a chance to find something great no matter how out of reach it may seem at the beginning.

The millennium development goals were a moonshot; great minds working on development looked at the overall work individuals were doing and realized that there should be a collection of goals that focus overall efforts. Although highly criticized for their effectiveness and inclusivity, the millennium development goals led to our present day Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are more inclusive, effective, and create frameworks for tracking progress. Every moonshot leads to a bigger and greater discovery that is improved with time. Before humanity commended itself for sending a man to the moon, now we have people like Elon Musk who are working to put man on mars permanently.

Back when things were a little more sane, the Obama White House put forth 21^st Century Grand Challenges and viewed them as an opportunity to change the lives of Americans. The White House invested in missions to expand our understanding of the human brain and treat diseased like Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism and epilepsy. The Department of Energy also invested in the “Sunshot Grand Challenge” which aimed to expand solar technology and apply it to vehicles. NASA has a very sobering Asteroid Challenge that aimed to “find all asteroid threats to human populations and know what to do about them”. All of these challenges led to new discoveries that pushed forward new initiatives that continued to help humanity.

Professor Cogburn’s final message for the day was to have this “moonshot” mentality throughout the semester when perusing our project on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Understanding that the path to inclusive sustainable development still has a lot of work to be done but every project will be an important step towards progress.

This blog post discusses sessions about fake news that occured at the 13th annual Internet Governance Forum. Continue reading →

In this post I will discuss what the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is. I will also summarize a Day 2 discussion from the Internet Governance Forum that focused on “The Future of Digital Identity and Human Rights.” This discussion focused on digital identity and the potential problems that accompany digital identity.

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