Coalition 2030
Coalition 2030 is an alliance of over 100 civil society organisations working together to ensure Ireland keeps its promise to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both at home and abroad.
The coalition is made up of both international and domestic NGOs along with youth organisations, environmental groups, academics, and trade unions. Its member organisations work in a broad variety or areas – from humanitarian relief to labour rights and environmental sustainability – in Ireland and in over 50 countries around the world. This diverse partnership has come together in the belief that Agenda 2030 – the global development plan agreed in September 2015 at the United Nations – must be fully implemented and its promises kept.
Together, we collaborate in advocacy for effective implementation of the SDGs and to monitor the Irish government’s compliance with its responsibilities as a signatory to the plan. Given that Ireland co-facilitated negotiations for the Goals (along with Kenya), it behoves the government to set a strong example in implementing each and every one of them, in line with the guiding principle to ‘leave no-one behind’. Moreover, the SDGs are interconnected and interdependent, so a holistic and comprehensive approach with coherent policies is essential to their success. As such, strong political leadership, effective coordination and a whole-of-government approach are crucial.
As members of Coalition 2030, we call on the Irish government to deliver the following:
1. An ambitious National Action Plan led by the Taoiseach—involving all government departments—to steer, implement, monitor and report on the SDGs. This plan must emphasise the interlinked nature of the Goals—making the link, for example, between agriculture and climate change, trade policy and global poverty.
2. An inclusive monitoring forum, one in which civil society and in particular those vulnerable groups—both in Ireland and internationally—who stand to gain or lose most from Ireland’s work on the SDGs, are fully represented.
3. Increased financing for development. The government must commit the resources required to achieve the SDGs, both at home and internationally. A key indicator of this commitment will be a clear and credible plan to reach the UN target to spent 0.7% of our GNI on overseas development aid (ODA).
If the SDGs are to be the transformative agenda originally envisaged then determined and consistent action on the part of governments in Ireland and around the world is required. Governments will not achieve the SDGs without working with civil society, however . The Irish government has been slow to date in making meaningful efforts to implement the SDGs. Three years after the agreement of the 2030 Agenda, it is no longer enough for governments to come before the UN speaking only of grand plans and noble intentions for the future – they must show concrete evidence of determined and effective efforts to incorporate the Goals into all areas of state and public sector activity.