Holistic approaches
for the 2030 Agenda
Session 4. Engaging stakeholders
for the implementation and review
of the 2030 Agenda
Quiz
Which of the following define the complete list of
officially called ‘Major Groups’?
1. Women, Children and Youth, Indigenous Peoples, Non-Governmental
Organizations, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business and
Industry, Scientific and Technological Community, Farmers.
2. Indigenous Peoples, Non-Governmental Organizations, Local Authorities, Workers
and Trade Unions, Scientific and Technological Community.
3. Women, Children and Youth, Non-Governmental Organizations, Local Authorities,
Business and Industry, Scientific and Technological Community, Farmers.
4. Women, Children and Youth, Disabled Peoples, Indigenous Peoples, NonGovernmental Organizations, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions,
Business and Industry, Scientific and Technological Community, Farmers.
1. Women,
Children and Youth,
Indigenous Peoples,
Non-Governmental Organizations,
Local Authorities,
Workers and Trade Unions,
Business and Industry,
Scientific and Technological Community,
Farmers.
True or False?
‘Governments invited other stakeholders,
including local communities, volunteer groups and
foundations, migrants and families, as well as
older persons and persons with disabilities, to
participate in UN processes related to
sustainable development.’
True
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
1.MGoS are not autonomous; they depend on
government.
2. MGoS can hold governments accountable, and
promote transparency and responsiveness.
3.MGoS have a good reach to grass roots partners.
4.Lack of participation in decision-making and in civil,
social and cultural life is a consequence of poverty.
5.MGoS are composed of large international NGOs and
cannot give voice to vulnerable groups.
1.MGoS can hold governments accountable,
and promote transparency and
responsiveness.
2.MGoS have a good reach to grass roots
partners.
Multiple Choice:
There is strong evidence that participatory processes have shown
positive outcomes in a number of development-related areas. Please
select them from the list below:
1. Tackling poverty and social exclusion
2. Improving services and service delivery
3. Ensuring a better use of resources geared towards meeting the
communities’ needs
4. Fostering greater state responsiveness to citizens’ needs
5. Ensuring banking sector invests in large infrastructure projects
6. Ensuring full involvement of the concerned constituencies in debating
social policy choices and allocations of resources affecting their lives
7. Providing all the necessary data for monitoring the internationally agreed
development goals
Possible answers
1. Tackling poverty and social exclusion
2. Improving services and service delivery
3. Ensuring a better use of resources geared towards meeting the
communities’ needs
4. Fostering greater state responsiveness to citizens’ needs
6. Ensuring full involvement of the concerned constituencies in debating
social policy choices and allocations of resources affecting their lives
Multiple choice
Obstacles to participation can include direct and indirect
discrimination as well as a range of practical challenges. Such
challenges may include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Costs of participating in meetings
Pro-forma participation
Impossibility to identify relevant groups
Lack of identity papers
Linguistic barriers
Lack of knowledge and skills among certain groups
Possible Answers
1. Costs of participating in meetings
2. Pro-forma participation
4. Lack of identity papers
5. Linguistic barriers
6. Lack of knowledge and skills among certain groups
S O M E
G U I D I N G
Q U E S T I O N S . . .
1. What is the rationale to engage stakeholders in the
national implementation and review process for the 2030
Agenda?
2. What are the levels of engagement for strengthening
participation for the SDGs?
3. What approaches, methods and tools for strengthening
stakeholder engagement for the SDGs can you use?
5. How can you map national stakeholders?
G U I D I N G
Q U E S T I O N
What is the rationale to engage
stakeholders in the national
implementation and review
process for the 2030 Agenda?
Participatory processes defined the 2030 Agenda
«We the Peoples»
"We the Peoples" are the celebrated opening words of the UN Charter. It is "We the
Peoples" who are embarking today on the road to 2030. Our journey will involve
Governments as well as Parliaments, the UN system and other international institutions,
local authorities, indigenous peoples, civil society, business and the private sector, the
scientific and academic community – and all people. Millions have already engaged with,
and will own, this Agenda. It is an Agenda of the people, by the people, and for the people
– and this, we believe, will ensure its success. (paragraph 52 of the 2030 Agenda)
Consultations leading to the 2030 Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
National level consultations (2012-2013)
11 thematic consultations (2012-2013)
The High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons (2012-2013)
My World survey (2012 – 2015)
Open Working Group on SDGs (2013-2014)
Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations (2014-2015)
ensure continuation and meaningful participation in the
implementation and review process of the agenda
Why engage stakeholders?
 autonomous and independent actors from government 
create the space for representing the ideas and the
interests of ordinary citizens.
 give voice to excluded groups  helping ensure that their
challenges and experiences are taken into account.
 promote
accountability,
responsiveness.
transparency
and
 Stakeholders are directly involved in service delivery,
often targeting those most affected by poverty and inequality.
Positive outcomes of participation
1. better
assessment of needs and capacities, and improvements in implementation and
sustainability:
• tackling poverty and social exclusion;
• improving services and service delivery;
• ensuring a better use of resources geared towards meeting the communities’ needs;
• fostering greater state responsiveness to citizens’ needs;
• creating spaces for citizen engagement and empowering local voices, amongst
others.
2. benefit society as a whole:
• building trust and solidarity,
• creating better social cohesion,
• contributing to more inclusive and pluralistic societies,
• bringing new issues and voices into the public arena.
G U I D I N G
Q U E S T I O N
What are the levels of
engagement for strengthening
participation for the SDGs?
May be appropriate when:
The process is beginning, and there is deeper
participation to come.
Stakeholders have a low level of understanding of 2030
Agenda (for example an introductory session to
communicate the details of 2030 Agenda and the SDGs).
May not be appropriate when:
Stakeholders want more active involvement
Decisions have meaningful impact on stakeholders
Stakeholders are already well informed about 2030
Agenda.
May be appropriate when:
Clear plans exist, and there are a limited range of options for change
Governments want to improve their existing plans, and are able to use the
feedback to do so
Stakeholders can understand and relate to the plans and the options.
Governments are committed to providing feedback to stakeholders on
how their input influenced the outcome.
May not be appropriate when:
Plans have been finalized, and feedback cannot be incorporated
Clear plans do not already exist, and you are seeking a wide range of
opinions
Stakeholders need to be mobilized and empowered for long-term
engagement.
May be appropriate when:
Governments need the expertise and contacts of stakeholders in order to
effectively implement decisions.
Governments are committed to reflecting inputs received in their
decisions, and to feeding back to stakeholders.
Stakeholders have an active desire, and demonstrate the capacity to be
engaged in 2030 Agenda implementation and review processes.
May not be appropriate when:
Governments don’t have the resources or the time to meaningfully
engage stakeholders in 2030 Agenda implementation and review process.
Governments don’t have the political space to meaningful incorporate
inputs from stakeholders.
Stakeholders do not show willingness to be actively engaged in 2030
Agenda implementation and review process.
May be appropriate when:
It is important that stakeholders feel ownership of 2030 Agenda implementation and
review processes.
There is an identifiable extra benefit to all parties from acting together.
There is enough time and resources to make the collaboration meaningful
Governments and stakeholders demonstrate the political will, desire and commitment
to develop a meaningful partnership around 2030 Agenda implementation and review.
Governments recognize the need for stakeholder’s advice and innovation to create the
best solutions, and are committed to shared decision making processes.
May not be appropriate when:
Time and resources are limited
Commitment is low – for example if government holds all the power (finance,
resources) and plans to use the collaboration to impose solutions
Stakeholders don’t have a long term interest in carrying out identified solutions, they
only want to be part of the decision making processes.
• The right to participation:
the right to have access to information, to be consulted, or to
directly participate in the drafting of laws and policies.
“participation should be understood broadly and requires
concrete political, legal and institutional actions”
(A/HRC/23/36).
• Managing expectations:
 participation means different things to different people.
 either builds ownership and improve decision making, or, in
the worst case scenario, promote distrust and division.
G U I D I N G
Q U E S T I O N
What approaches,
methods and tools for
strengthening stakeholder
engagement for the SDGs
can you use?
G U I D I N G
Q U E S T I O N
How can you map national
stakeholders?
• What is a stakeholder map?
list of the individuals and organisations which will be affected by a
specific project, or who have the capacity to contribute to a project.
detailed maps can be used to measure stakeholders’ interest in a
project, how the project may impact them.
• How to do it, step by step
1. brainstorm a list of your national stakeholders who are affected by
Agenda 2030.
2. analyse the impact that Agenda 2030 implementation / review may
have on these stakeholders.
3. analyse how much capacity stakeholders have to engage in your
programme.
4. decide which organisations to prioritise when designing your
stakeholder engagement programme
Constituency
Major Groups
Business and Industry
Children and Youth
Farmers
Indigenous Peoples
Local Authorities
Non-Governmental
Organizations
Scientific and
Technological
Community
Women
Workers and Trade
Unions
Organisation
Contact person: Impact:
Capacity:
Phone, email,
website,
address
How much capacity do they
currently have participate in
your stakeholder engagement
programme (Low / medium /
high)
How much does
Agenda 2030
implementation /
review impact
them? (Low /
medium / high)
Constituency
Organisation
Contact person:
Impact:
Phone, email,
How much does
website, address Agenda 2030
implementation /
review impact
them? (Low /
medium / high)
Other Stakeholders
Academia and Think
Tanks
Faith groups
Foundations
Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual
and transgender (LGBT)
Migrants
Older persons
Parliamentary
Committees
People experiencing
poverty
Persons with disabilities
Social movements
Socially excluded
minorities
Volunteer groups
Workers in the informal
sector
Other
Capacity:
How much capacity do they
currently have participate in
your stakeholder engagement
programme (Low / medium /
high)
Exercise:
Stakeholder
mapping
Other stakeholder mappings: the importance/influence mapping
Other stakeholder mappings: People and connections Map
End of section
Holistic approaches for the 2030 Agenda
March 2017, Abuja