Alliance 2030 officially launched two weeks ago during the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York City. The launch came on the heels of Canada presenting its first Voluntary National Review to the HLPF — offering a baseline of where Canada is at in terms of implementing the SDGs at home and abroad.
Parliamentary Secretary Adam Vaughan joined Alliance 2030’s founding partners at the event, alongside other Alliance members, youth representatives, Canadian members of parliament and public servants.
Vaughan spoke about the importance of Alliance 2030 and the value of having an online platform to help coordinate our efforts and provide Canadians with a digital space to share their stories, experiences and best practices.
With regards to collaboration on the SDGs, Vaughan stated:
The Government of Canada welcomes initiatives like Alliance 2030 and we look forward to continued collaboration as we move forward, particularly as the Government embarks on developing a National Strategy, through engagement with all levels of government, Indigenous peoples, civil society and you, to advance the 2030 Agenda across the country.
As shared in Canada’s Voluntary National Review, the Government of Canada will be establishing an SDG Unit within Employment and Social Development Canada to coordinate, monitor and report on activities related to the implementation of Canada’s National Strategy. We will keep our members informed of any opportunities to work in collaboration with the government on this implementation.
The Alliance 2030 digital space is designed to allow organizations to easily connect with like-minded Canadians, so they can share learnings, find the support they need and stay up-to-date on the current state of the SDGs through storytelling and information sharing.
This explicit focus on storytelling in this first phase is very intentional. Stories are important. Especially stories that come from communities told by communities. But beyond stories, what next for the Alliance?
As Canada launches its national strategy on the SDGs, we are hoping in the coming months and years to do the following:
- Focus attention on key priorities specific to the Canadian context, including around reconciliation, poverty reduction, gender equality, inclusive growth, and climate, clean energy and oceans.
- Generate actionable knowledge for SDG implementation and make that knowledge accessible to a wide range of community leaders engaged in SDG implementation.
- Work collaboratively to generate a set of robust data that can inform how Canada and Canadians are realizing the SDGs.
- Build networks and foster collaborations across sector, including multi-stakeholder partnerships.
- Profile and highlight key research being done by communities, practitioners and academics both in Canada and globally, to generate timely and relevant knowledge that can support what we are trying to achieve across the country, to learn and have greater impact, and to identify key research gaps.
- Pool funds from a range of different investors around the needs of local communities, and to help matchmake.
- Foster support for this Agenda among Canadians, raise awareness of the goals, and foster connections between the changes Canadians want to see in their lives and livelihoods, and what everyone around the world wants — to achieve a fairer, safer, and more sustainable world, leaving no one behind.
- And ultimately help build a holistic and whole of Canada approach to realizing the 2030 Agenda.
To unlock this potential, we need a catalyst. And we feel that a cross-sector approach that includes government, public philanthropy, and the private sector, can collectively play a catalytic role in unleashing the Alliance’s potential.
It is going to be an exciting adventure. But to get there, we need you. If you aren’t a member of Alliance 2030 yet, be sure to join, generate a profile, and become part of this conversation and a community of Canadians focused on the 2030 Agenda.