Monday 25 April 2016
08.00-09.00 Welcome Coffee & Registration
09.00-09.30 Welcoming Remarks
- Sima Bahous, Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, UNDP
- TBD, CG (represented by OFID)
09.30-11.00
- Session I: Access to Information, Data Revolution and Partnerships for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
- KnowYourGoals Campaign, Global Coordinator of Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Youth
- Jordan Strategy Forum
- Economic Research Forum
- BBC Media Action Center
- Global Forum for Media Development
- Moderated by Lina Ejeilat, Co-Founder of Hiber
11.00-12.30
- Session II: Creating a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation through digital collaboration
- Wamda
- ArabNet
- KarmSolar
- TBD
12.30-13.30 Lunch
- Regional workshop on the SDGs
Almost one month after the meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) scheduled to take place in end-March in Mexico to establish the tier system for indicators, the launching ceremony will offer the space for regional experts and participants to assess the final list of indicators proposed under the SDGs.
For a focused discussion, the launching ceremony will be followed by guided workshops on six thematic topics; namely, energy and climate change, poverty, labor and employment, water and food security, education and trade. The role of the private sector, youth and women are common issues that will be revisited by all six thematic workshops. These working groups will be conducted in parallel, and participants are requested to register in one working group upon confirmation.
During these workshops, thematic experts will act as mentors to educate the participants on the SDGs and discuss the goals and respective indicators proposed under each thematic area. The ADP team will present the results of a thorough stocktaking across all countries to assess whether data are already available, not easily available or whether an internationally agreed methodology has not yet been developed. Additionally, the mentor will discuss the relevance of the proposed indicators and how these indicators can help form an informed public debate on development priorities. The workshop will ultimately offer participants guidance on how to use the ADP as a tool to produce statistical analysis that can be useful for their work. It will help journalists produce fact-based articles on development topics and youth become partners for the implementation of the SDGs. Additionally, the ADP team will also solicit feedback on the features that the new ADP SDGs tracking tool will offer and discuss the needs of users and limitations. These thematic workshops will be attended by representatives of the National Statistical Offices of the Arab countries and leading experts from the region.
- Arab youth as partners for the implementation of the SDGs
In the Arab region, the estimated number of internet users reached 141 million by December 2015, which means that around 37% of the Arab population is now connected. There is no questioning that the online community is largely dominated by youth and that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Arab region depends on their involvement. The Arab youth are the primary beneficiaries, and they should also become the main partners for the successful implementation of a relevant development agenda in the region.
The launching ceremony will target 20 youth between the age of 20-25 who are either university students or active in the public sphere, especially on topics related to youth-specific targets over six key SDGs: Goal 2 (hunger), Goal 4 (education), Goal 5 (gender equality), Goal 8 (decent work), Goal 10 (inequality) and Goal 13 (climate change).
All participants are expected to register in one of the six thematic workshops that will be conducted on April 26th. They will discuss the respective topics and brainstorm the indicators suggested under the relevant SDGs. Youth participants will join one of the working group to get trained on the different topics. Throughout these workshops, youth are expected to work on producing a short analytical brief based on statistics and resources available on the ADP. Each thematic workshop will include participants from academic institutions and research centers, national statistical offices, professional and business associations, journalists and development agencies. The recommendations will be presented on April 27th, especially on how to improve reporting and tracking mechanisms of the SDGs. Indirectly, the thematic workshops will also allow the UNDP to assess the ADP and identify areas of improvement.
Monday 25 April 2016
14.00 – 16.00
- Session III: General Introduction to SDGs Framework.
16.00
- Session IV: Briefing on working modalities of the six working groups on 26-27 April.
Tuesday 26 April 2016
Six thematic workshops conducted in parallel
- Energy and Climate Change
- Poverty
- Labor and Employment
- Water and Food Security
- Trade
- Education
Each working group will be led by a regional expert joined by 12-15 participants. During the working groups, the participants will discuss the challenges and priorities under each topic and discuss resources needed to substantiate the analysis within the framework of the SDGs. They will identify available indicators and brainstorm proxy indicators that can help countries report and track progress in the next fifteen years. The working groups will be based on the final list of indicators published by the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) following their March meeting in Mexico.
A detailed agenda will be shared with each participant upon registering in one of the working group.
Wednesday 27 April 2016
09.00-11.00
- Session V: Thematic Presentations:
- Challenges, Needs and Recommendations
- A 20-min presentation by each mentor.
- A 20-min presentation by the Youth Coordinator and NSO representative of each Working Group.
11.00-13.00
- Session VI: Concluding Session and Next Steps.