We are pleased to announce the SDG16+ Storytelling Initiative, a joint effort by the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS), Forus International, and the Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network.
This initiative seeks to strengthen local civil society’s capacity for storytelling as a tool to advance peacebuilding, justice, and the implementation of SDG16+. The effort will also build connections across the SDG16+ landscape to share lessons learned and best practices, as well as harmonize and amplify stories of civil society elevating SDG16+ at the national and local levels.
Why Storytelling?
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) is envisioned as a plan of action for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership—one that will free humanity from the tyranny of poverty and want and secure the planet for future generations. While significant efforts have been made at all levels to realize the vision of the 2030 Agenda, most governments are behind schedule in achieving the ambitious targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG16 on peaceful, just, and inclusive societies.
Further, while there are some existing reporting mechanisms to track progress on SDG16-related issues, such as the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), the Universal Periodic Reviews (UPRs), and other global processes that facilitate civil society engagement, these instruments are not enough to bring accountability to ensure that nations are meeting their obligations, provide sufficient detail, and adequately utilize localized data. Next to that, in most cases, reporting mechanisms fail to fully incorporate insights from civil society, making official processes exclusionary of crucial actors in reporting the realities on the ground. Finally, civil society actors and the peacebuilding field tend to struggle to form messaging that resonates with policymakers and the general public, resulting in a lack of a constituency for SDG16+.
Therefore, the international community must highlight and amplify the stories of work being done by civil society and other stakeholders to demonstrate the leadership role of civil society in driving progress towards SDG16+ at national and local levels. Furthermore, spotlighting these efforts can raise awareness of the interlinkages between SDG16 and other components of the 2030 Agenda, and how peaceful, just, and inclusive societies can pay dividends in other sectors such as environmental action and public health. By strengthening civil society’s ability to tell its own story on the value of SDG16+, the international community can create an enabling environment that brings more funding, resources, and political will to the implementation of SDG16+.
This initiative will build on existing work of the co-organizing partners AfP, CSPPS, Forus International, and the TAP Network, as well as collaborative efforts such as the Voices of SDG16+ Campaign, the SDG16Now Campaign’s Halfway to 2030 Report, the Alliance for Peacebuilding’s “What is Peacebuilding” series, and Forus International’s 2024 report, Rebuilding Trust for Inclusive Governance. Local and national stakeholders need to come together to analyze where progress stands on SDG16+ to share promising approaches and successes, integrate SDG16+ across all of the 2030 Agenda, and identify key areas where further action, commitments, and accountability are needed to get the SDGs back on track.
How Can You Participate?
Throughout the year, the initiative will host several webinars and discussions exploring different focus topics, including fundraising, advocacy and public communications, interlinkages with other SDGs, and visual storytelling. Below you can find a preliminary timeline of the sequence of the various webinars we will host in the coming months.
The initiative collect and gather stories from various civil society organizations working on SDG16 in its diversity. We seek stories about your work and efforts in advancing the goals of SDG16+ at the local, national, regional and/or international levels. By the end of the year, a compendium will be created to showcase these stories, with a selection process conducted throughout the year.
You should submit a story if you:
Are a civil society organization
Work and engage on topics and global/regional/national processes around SDG16+
Implement activities at the local level.
Have a story to tell and share with other sectors, stakeholders, donors, and like-minded organizations.
