Stadt Bonn: Global Action Campaign Center for the SDGs to start working in Bonn

The UN SDG Action Campaign, formerly known as the UN Millennium Campaign, is a special initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, established to empower and inspire people across the world to take action to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by building and maintaining political will for the Goals, as well as by encouraging and supporting multi-stakeholder engagement in the implementation of Agenda 2030.

Since its inception in 2002, the Campaign has contributed to facilitate citizen mobilization for the Millennium Development Goals, proof of which was the initiative Stand Up Against Poverty, which mobilized over 173 million people in 2009 alone.

Most recently, as part of the global conversation on the Post-2015 development agenda, the Campaign called on people around the world to share their hopes and dreams through the MY World 2015 Survey, the largest global options survey the UN has ever conducted. Collectively, the Campaign, with the support of over 1,000 partners worldwide, collected over 10 million voices through MY World and national and thematic consultations, helping decision makers see the development priorities that would improve people’s lives at the global, regional, national and local levels. Now, in today’s era of Agenda 2030, the challenge is to show that the SDGs, adopted by 193 world leaders at the UN in September 2015, are achievable through partnership and action from everyone everywhere. To deliver on its mandate to inspire people’s action on the SDGs, hold governments accountable and ensure that no one is left behind, the Campaign is establishing a Global Campaign Center in Bonn.

The Center will be located in Haus Carstanjen, which was the first site of UN Bonn and housed the signature of the historic Marshall Plan, and act as a strategic hub for the UN SDG Action Campaign; working to connect and amplify stakeholder efforts, including those of the UN system and Member States, open up measures of accountability, aggregate citizen-generated data, showcase impact, share best practices, and incubate and test out innovative efforts around SDG implementation.

As such, the Global Campaign Center will also allow the Campaign to work closely together with key strategic partners in Bonn and beyond such as the Municipality of Bonn, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Foreign Office, as well as the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, the Knowledge Center for Sustainable Development of the UN System Staff College, and the broader UN family in Bonn.

The strong collaboration of the Campaign with such relevant partners has already resulted in a number of successful experiences to promote the SDGs and facilitate citizen engagement in supporting them. This includes the development and production of a SDG exhibit jointly with the Municipality of Bonn, and the collaboration with the Municipality, BMZ, the Foreign Office and UN Bonn to showcase the exhibit itself as well as innovative advocacy mechanisms on the SDGs in key events in Bonn such as the Open Day in Villa Hammerschmidt, which served to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the UN in Bonn, and the Future Tour event hosted by BMZ as part of the country-wide efforts to communicate the Charter for the Future and engage citizens in its roll out.

Going forward, the Campaign plans to again join hands with the Municipality and the UN Bonn family to feature the SDGs strongly at the occasion of the UN Day on 29 October, including by promoting the MY World 2030 survey which has been developed as an adaptable survey to facilitate citizen-generated data and engagement with the SDGs at a global, national and sub-national level, in order to contribute a ‘people’s perspective’ on progress in the implementation of the new agenda at different levels.

Plans are also underway to celebrate the launch of the Global Campaign Center itself in the World Conference Center on 14-16 November; an event open to all interested individuals and organizations in Bonn, which will also serve to celebrate the Goals and provide an opportunity for local and international stakeholders to get together and discuss innovative solutions around SDGs challenges.

Source: Website Bonn International, 01.09.2016The UN SDG Action Campaign, formerly known as the UN Millennium Campaign, is a special initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, established to empower and inspire people across the world to take action to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by building and maintaining political will for the Goals, as well as by encouraging and supporting multi-stakeholder engagement in the implementation of Agenda 2030.

Since its inception in 2002, the Campaign has contributed to facilitate citizen mobilization for the Millennium Development Goals, proof of which was the initiative Stand Up Against Poverty, which mobilized over 173 million people in 2009 alone.

Most recently, as part of the global conversation on the Post-2015 development agenda, the Campaign called on people around the world to share their hopes and dreams through the MY World 2015 Survey, the largest global options survey the UN has ever conducted. Collectively, the Campaign, with the support of over 1,000 partners worldwide, collected over 10 million voices through MY World and national and thematic consultations, helping decision makers see the development priorities that would improve people’s lives at the global, regional, national and local levels. Now, in today’s era of Agenda 2030, the challenge is to show that the SDGs, adopted by 193 world leaders at the UN in September 2015, are achievable through partnership and action from everyone everywhere. To deliver on its mandate to inspire people’s action on the SDGs, hold governments accountable and ensure that no one is left behind, the Campaign is establishing a Global Campaign Center in Bonn.

The Center will be located in Haus Carstanjen, which was the first site of UN Bonn and housed the signature of the historic Marshall Plan, and act as a strategic hub for the UN SDG Action Campaign; working to connect and amplify stakeholder efforts, including those of the UN system and Member States, open up measures of accountability, aggregate citizen-generated data, showcase impact, share best practices, and incubate and test out innovative efforts around SDG implementation.

As such, the Global Campaign Center will also allow the Campaign to work closely together with key strategic partners in Bonn and beyond such as the Municipality of Bonn, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Foreign Office, as well as the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, the Knowledge Center for Sustainable Development of the UN System Staff College, and the broader UN family in Bonn.

The strong collaboration of the Campaign with such relevant partners has already resulted in a number of successful experiences to promote the SDGs and facilitate citizen engagement in supporting them. This includes the development and production of a SDG exhibit jointly with the Municipality of Bonn, and the collaboration with the Municipality, BMZ, the Foreign Office and UN Bonn to showcase the exhibit itself as well as innovative advocacy mechanisms on the SDGs in key events in Bonn such as the Open Day in Villa Hammerschmidt, which served to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the UN in Bonn, and the Future Tour event hosted by BMZ as part of the country-wide efforts to communicate the Charter for the Future and engage citizens in its roll out.

Going forward, the Campaign plans to again join hands with the Municipality and the UN Bonn family to feature the SDGs strongly at the occasion of the UN Day on 29 October, including by promoting the MY World 2030 survey which has been developed as an adaptable survey to facilitate citizen-generated data and engagement with the SDGs at a global, national and sub-national level, in order to contribute a ‘people’s perspective’ on progress in the implementation of the new agenda at different levels.

Plans are also underway to celebrate the launch of the Global Campaign Center itself in the World Conference Center on 14-16 November; an event open to all interested individuals and organizations in Bonn, which will also serve to celebrate the Goals and provide an opportunity for local and international stakeholders to get together and discuss innovative solutions around SDGs challenges.

Source: Website Bonn International, 01.09.2016