The Leave No One Behind Partnership is excited to be at the Sustainable Development Goal Global Festival of Action in Bonn, Germany from 2 to 4 May 2019. The SDG Global Festival of Action brings together more than 1,500 political decision-makers, activists, experts, business leaders and creatives from over 130 countries at the World Conference Centre.
Thao Hoang, Country Director of ActionAid Vietnam, representing the Partnership at the Festival, participated in a panel discussion about how to make SDG implementation and review processes more inclusive.
An influential partnership of a dozen of the world’s largest international civil society organisations (ICSOs), ‘Leave No One Behind’ partnership brings together actors from the local up to the international level to realise a more participative and inclusive SDG implementation. The coalition aims to fill knowledge gaps about marginalisation and to advocate for evidence-based policy-making at national and global levels. Put simply, Make Voices Heard And Count.
Thao Hoang, Country Director of ActionAid Vietnam, said:
“SDG implementation by government alone is not possible. They can only be achieved with the inclusion of civil society, private sector, academia and, most importantly, with the most marginalised people’s voices being heard. We need to all work together.
“SDGs are not one size fits all, they mean something different to each person, education for one person and safe cities for others. To address this diversity, we need to work together.
“Change takes time, you just won’t wake up finding all the SDGs implemented. Its time to stop asking ‘why’ and ‘how’ and, instead work on the why and how now – that’s why we attend the SDG Global Festival of Action.”
Peter Koblowsky, Senior Partnership Manager, said:
“Being at the SDG Global Festival of Action shows that there is a strong global level focus on SDG implementation. Likewise, there is an appetite to work more locally, and across sectors and organisations. Our multi-stakeholder Leave No One Behind coalition serves this need, bringing in marginalised communities and advocating for their needs both on a global and local level. This is how we will make voices heard and count.”
Thomas Howie
Communications Manager
International Civil Society Centre
Thomas joined the Centre in June 2017 as the Communications Coordinator. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Centre’s global communication strategy, as well as the Disrupt & Innovate platform – a place for civil society professionals and activists to discuss current innovations and future trends in the civil society sector. Prior to the Centre, Thomas worked for 5 years in the European Parliament firstly as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, and then, after the 2014 European elections, for Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen as Head of Communications, where he worked on issues such as the EU-US trade deal, issues around Brexit and as a specialist on the Petitions Committee. Thomas graduated from Bristol University with BSci in Geographical Sciences and holds an MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he completed research into the role of civil society in the post war peace settlement in northern Uganda.
