Empowerment and meaningful participation of communities most affected by sustainable development issues is fundamental to reaching global health, development, rights, and gender goals - including ending AIDS by 2030. This message was emphasized by global development partners at the Leaving No-One Behind in Decision-making: Setting the Example in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Era event held on 18 July - Nelson Mandela Day - during the UN High-Level Political Forum in New York.
Hosted by UNAIDS, the UNAIDS PCB NGO delegation, the Government of Botswana and the Government of Portugal, the event began with keynote speeches from Musah Lumumbah,
Ugandan youth advocate and UNAIDS PCB NGO delegate and Jenna Ortega, actress and activist. Panel members Slumber Tsogwane, Botswana Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, François Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United Nations in New York, Alessandra Nilo Gestos, Brazil and UNAIDS PCB NGO delegate and Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director were led by facilitator Ebony Johnson, gender and community mobilization advocate, through a dynamic discussion. The session considered lessons learned from the AIDS response, where multisectoral, multistakeholder partnerships and community mobilization, leadership and inclusion has been critical to progress, and how to consolidate these types of inclusive partnerships to help drive impact across the SDGs.
Interventions focused on examples of how and where meaningful community involvement in the planning, programme development, decision making and implementation within the AIDS response not only empowers the voice of those most affected but is also more effective in ensuring the most appropriate policy and planning, tailored to realities and needs.
The session emphasized how inclusion of community representatives in governance processes, at country, regional and global levels, is a powerful mechanism to foster solutions with impact. UNAIDS’ inclusive governance model, where civil society are members of the Programme Coordinating Board, was highlighted as a unique example of how United Nations governance systems can take forward the SDGs in a way which is accountable to and owned by ‘the peoples’ it serves, and which truly leaves no one behind.
“It is timely to have the meeting today on Nelson Mandela Day. He was truly convinced that you will never win without opening the door, being inclusive, creating a democratic space. This only effective way to reach the SDGs will be through a multisectoral approach, with communities fully and meaningfully involved, as we have been doing in the AIDS response.”
Michel Sidibé UNAIDS Executive Director
“Empowerment is critically important because young people’s voices need to be heard. Young people should be able to influence policies and practices that affect our health. Young people are creative and inspiring and would often come up with creative ideas--we can be the generation to end AIDS.”
Jenna Ortega Actress and activist
“When the first HIV cases were reported in Botswana we did not have the infrastructure in place to deal with this epidemic. We had to work in partnerships to be able to address the impact of the epidemic.We know what can work, and now our response to HIV aligns with the SDGs and the national vision for the country’s future.”
Slumber Tsogwane Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Botswana
“As we take stock of the SDGs we shall continue, as communities, to fight discriminatory laws, discrimination and stigma and to advance the notion of positive health and dignity. We can’t realize the targets in the SDG agenda if communities are isolated. The UNAIDS governing body is the only one in the United Nations system with civil society on the Board - we call for this to be expanded, we call upon United Nations system, member states and stakeholders to support communities at all levels.”
Musah Lumumbah Ugandan youth advocate and UNAIDS PCB NGO delegate
"The HIV response has been marked by the participation of NGOs and this has been instrumental to making sure programmes reached the right people, mobilized populations and generated funding mechanisms. France will continue to promote civil society involvement in decision making as well as in development and HIV programmes.”
François Delattre Ambassador of France to the United Nations in New York
