Comments on the Zero Draft (ZD) of the Pact of the Future
After a wide-ranging discussion in the preparatory meetings of the SDG Summit 2023 and further activities and papers that were produced, it all resulted in a set of knowledge and working agreement on the content of the ZD of the Summit of the Future 2024. All this effort should continue in aiming to the SDG impacts on the Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030.
The collection of ideas and the preparation of the Summit of the Future 2024 content reached a result. We have 148 text items (theses) divided into five groups. These became the input of the next step: how to add further value to the ZD and satisfy the demand of UN stakeholders through the Summit of the Future 2024.
It comes to the concurrence of the following two stimuli:
View of ZD,
View of Summit 2024.
1. View of ZD (how to read, process, and prepare the obtained value for use).
Linear ordering ZD items (theses) is not the most suitable form for final processing. Each of the five groups has its weight and specificity, and individual items (theses), their sub-content, and keywords have their interactions both in their thesis and with other theses of the whole obtained within the time frame up to 2030.
Therefore, I propose to adopt a more flexible form of textual content for the Summit 2024. Find a compromise so that the work on the ZD continues through the traditional reading and settlement of comments, at the same time to scale, sort, and organize the texts of the ZD into reports that will enable the digitization (transformation) of these obtained data into electronic form (e.g., via hierarchy and prioritization of data obtained through dialectical diagrams apps).
It will open the space for follow-up operations to link this data content with the data collected around the SDGs. It is a way to link global indicator data with SDG models (for all 17 goals) and weigh (significance) the values obtained via monitoring in needed details for the following statistical and strategic evaluations.
The SDG model refers to the connection of processed theses (today ZD) and SDG aggregated data from projects that characterize investments (beginning, volume, and end) in the activities of individual SDGs, in groups, in algorithms, which are probably missing in the current SDG monitoring and evaluation mechanism.
The task is to monitor the individual goals (e.g., as the Progress Chart 2023 indicates), their absorptive capacity in space, and sustainability over time. The data we obtain in this way become the input (engine) for the growth of the quality of the hierarchical structure and the widespread impact of investments in the SDGs and, thus, the feedback (control) of this effort.
I recommend starting with low-income countries (LIC). I recommend starting with low-income countries (LIC). Deepen the outreach of LIC governments in the SDG matter by directly addressing and calling on their Local Government Units in individual provinces, including local intellectual and development capacities (universities and other organizations entrusted with education, etc.) to the SDG worldwide program (e.g., in a way that is understandable for them and their internet communication).I recommend starting with low-income countries (LIC).
The time until September 22-23 creates space for preparation. It has several dimensions: to build internet communication among the involved stakeholders, to strengthen the transparency of financial flows of monitored investments, to anchor global indicators in the timetables of real projects (aggregated portfolios), and to test the model and work on its development even after 2030.
2. View of Summit 2024 (how to present the result of this preparation and anchor it in Agenda 2030)
ZD for two of the five groups suggests supplementing the text items (theses) with separate appendices. If Summit 2024 adopts an electronic form of its declarative value, it is appropriate to consider each of the five parts having its appendix.
In any case, it is a stimulus for a pilot project, a possible application of revitalization of work on public and non-profit sector documents. The initiative is to create a start-up in the form of the work of a small international and interdisciplinary team in a dominant online mode, which would itself, according to a previously prepared schedule, ensure other necessary work (e.g., the primary design of the digital form of the SDG Model, which should be presented at the Summit 2024).
The mentioned initiatives weigh on each other the questions of how to carry out the work in the necessary volume and available time. Indeed, with the support of an expert team and targeted coordination of work on the preparation and implementation of the Summit with a link to the present UN works on the final goal, Agenda 2030. A quick financial and organizational solution is offered in reaching out to philanthropists and the cooperation of the UN budget in the form of "blended finance."
The goal is to get a team of experts quickly enough to start working on the topics in time. To meet the limits of the public tenders, the team should be responsible for the quality of the work (financed from the philanthropists' budget). The UN staff should be responsible for accepting or rejecting the team's work outputs (which can be covered by the current costs of the UN budget). This division of responsibility for spent funds cannot be taken as a circumvention of the Public Procurement Act.
In any case, it is a stimulus for a pilot task, a possible application of revitalization of work on public and non-profit sector documents. The initiative is to create a start-up in the form of the work of a small international and interdisciplinary team in a dominant online mode, which would itself, according to a previously prepared schedule, ensure other necessary work (e.g., the primary design of the digital form of the SDG Model, which should be presented at the Summit 2024).
Both stimuli are related and are a logical view of the tasks that must be solved. Quick decisions by three parties are needed for implementation. The first is the responsible person on the UN side who will approach the philanthropists and prepare or accept the team's job offer. On the side of the philanthropists is the submission of a proposal for a guarantee for the services provided, for example, through a reputable organization providing philanthropy.
Fantasy is in place. It is one of the ways to get out of the existing organizational-legal complex grips in development aid, in this case, at the UN level.
Zdenek Chalus, Ph. D.
Independent researcher
P5 for RES s.r.o.