Towards an ambitious EU implementation strategy to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

July 13, 2016

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out an unprecedented and ambitious global action plan. Through the endorsement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, the international community acknowledged the central role of effective, inclusive and accountable institutions in enabling sustainable development. Accountability to citizens, in particular through participatory democratic political processes, is a crucial enabler of the SDGs and a powerful instrument to contribute to the global commitment to “leave no one behind”.

The Office of the International IDEA to the European Union (EU), the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) and the European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP) are advocating for an ambitious EU implementation strategy to realize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), its 169 targets and 230 indicators. In their Joint Statement, they made the following recommendations:

Implement the EU commitment to increase policy coherence for sustainable development, in support of the attainment of the SDGs
Align the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy with the SDGs, and in particular Goal 16
Ensure that democracy support and development policy frameworks and instruments are in support of the implementation of Goal 16
Address the EU internal/external democracy challenge (in line with the universality of the 2030 Agenda)
Reinforce the commitment to implementing Goal 16 by ensuring EU democratic support is based on the following key principles:
- - Fostering bottom-up empowerment;
  - Supporting home-grown institutions and reformers;
  - Developing real partnerships;
  - Facilitating decentralization, where appropriate;
  - Acknowledging the importance of implementation and monitoring at the country level and the need to adapt global goals to the local context;
  - Harnessing the power of technology;
  - Promoting gender equality;
  - Ensuring inclusive and multi-stakeholder participatory approaches; and
  - Improving transparency, monitoring, and accountability procedures and mechanisms.
Support EU Member States with target setting and development of relevant indicators

International IDEA is a strong advocate for the inclusion of democracy as a priority in the work of the EU. Its Office to the EU in Brussels is specifically tasked to liaise with EU institutions on these matters.