ARTICLE 19 joined other UK-based organisations in signing an open letter urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to attend the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, taking place on 18-19 September in New York. ARTICLE 19 has previously argued that there is no sustainable development without freedom of expression, and that access to information is a key enabling mechanism for public engagement across all the goals. We urge the Prime Minister to ensure the UK engages meaningfully with discussions around the SDGs as we continue to face overlapping global challenges.
CC:
Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, Foreign and Development Secretary
Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, Minister of State for Development and Africa
25th August 2023
Dear Prime Minister,
As representatives of the UK’s development and humanitarian sector, we are writing to urge you to attend the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, taking place at the United Nations in New York on 18-19 September, and to support the adoption of the negotiated SDG Summit Political Declaration.
The SDG Summit comes at a critical time, marking the halfway point for the transformative 2030 Agenda and SDGs, providing us with a universal framework to address the overlapping global challenges of conflict, climate, food security, and poverty while leaving no one behind. Yet, as highlighted in the UN Secretary General’s report, the world is severely off track to achieving the SDGs by 2030. In 2015 the UK played a central role in agreeing with this agenda under a Conservative government, explicitly pledging to leave no one behind. Time is running out if we are to realise the ambition the UK had in 2015, which requires the UK to redouble our efforts and lead by example.
We welcome the Government’s ambition to support progress on the SDGs. Earlier this year the Integrated Review Refresh 2023 highlighted the SDGs as one of the key priorities to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, the SDG Summit is a critical moment for the UK to demonstrate it can walk the talk and show leadership by turning these commitments into action. It is also an important opportunity to rebuild the UK’s reputation as a trusted partner to lower-income countries and global actors and express solidarity in building a sustainable future. Your presence at the Summit is needed to prove the UK’s serious intention to advance progress on the SDGs.
We also urge the UK to join consensus on the negotiated SDG Political Declaration based on the draft that was submitted to the President of the General Assembly by the co-facilitators Ireland and Qatar.
The global community needs an ambitious and action-oriented Political Declaration to signal political will at the highest level to help achieve the SDGs. The draft text constitutes a strong basis to drive further concrete and transformative action to deliver progress towards the 2030 Agenda in an integrated manner and we encourage all delegations to support its adoption at the SDG Summit in September.
Time is running out if the world is to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. But with renewed effort by the UK, under your leadership, 2023 could be a pivotal moment for people and planet. We very much look forward to your support for the adoption of the SDG Political Declaration and your active participation at the Summit in September.
Yours sincerely,
Stephanie Draper
Chief Executive
Bond
Co-signed by:
Liza Tong, Director, A leg to stand, a hand to feed
Karl Hankinson, CEO, Able Child Africa
Othman Moqbel, CEO, Action For Humanity
Alex Daniels, CEO, Action on Poverty
Mary Ann Clements, Co-CEO, ADD International
Bert R Smit, CEO, ADRA-UK
Andrew Betts, Director, Advantage Africa
Lucy Nkwameni Njomo, CEO, Africa Youth Development Association (AYDA)
Alison Marshall, CEO, Age International
Graeme Hodge, CEO, All We Can & Y Care International
Jasmine O’Connor, CEO, Anti-Slavery International
Beatrice De Carli, General Manager, Architecture Sans Frontières UK (ASF-UK)
Barbora Bukovska, Senior Director for Law and Policy, ARTICLE 19
Gemma Holding, CEO, Article 25
Sheniz Tan, CEO, Asfar
Penny David, Director, Ashanti Development
Elizabeth Winter, Director, BAAG (British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group)
Lewis Temple, Chief Executive, BRAC UK
Christine Allen, Executive Director, CAFOD
Anil Patil, Executive Director, Carers Worldwide
Kirsty Smith, CEO, CBM UK/BasicNeeds
Harriet Gordon-Brown, CEO, CHASE Africa
Patrick Watt, Chief Executive, Christian Aid
Danny Harvey, Executive Director, Concern Worldwide UK
Jonathan Cohen OBE, Executive Director, Conciliation Resources
Peter Marsden, CEO, Concordis International
Matthew Owen, Director, Cool Earth
Andy Pask, Chief Executive Officer, Cord
Gazala Shaikh, Director, Dalit Solidarity Network UK (DSN UK)
Fionna Smyth, Interim Director of Growth & External Relations, Development Initiatives Matthew Lake, CEO, Dhaka Ahsania Mission
Andrew Boys, Executive Director, Down Syndrome International
Tim Livesey, Chief Executive, Embrace the Middle East
Petter Matthews, Executive Director, Engineers Against Poverty
Peter McAllister, Executive Director, Ethical Trading Initiative
Michael Gidney, Chief Executive, Fairtrade Foundation
Sandra Golding, CEO, Feed the Minds
Ian Johnson, CEO, Food for the Hungry UK
Dr Joel C Gill, Executive Director, GfGD – Institute of Geoscience for Sustainable Global Development
Professor David Hulme OBE, Executive Director, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester
Martin Drewry, CEO, Health Poverty Action
Tanya Buynovskaya, Director of Operations, HealthProm
Mark Waddington CBE, CEO, Hope and Homes for Children
Claire O’Shea, Head Hub Cymru Africa, Hub Cymru Africa
Owais Khan, Deputy CEO, Human Appeal
Nabeel Al Ramadhani, CEO, Human Relief Foundation
George Graham, Chief Executive, Humanity & Inclusion UK
Dr Elly Hiby, Director, ICAM Coalition
Parmi Dheensa, Executive Director, Include Me TOO
James Georgalakis, Director of Evidence and Impact, Institute of Development Studies
Jasmina Haynes, CEO, Integrity Action
Nic Hailey, Executive Director, International Alert
Adele Paterson, CEO, International Health Partners
Thomas Mitchell, Executive Director, International Institute for Environment and Development
John Reynolds, CEO, International Nepal Fellowship
John Young, Executive Director, International Network for Advancing Science and Policy
Laura Kyrke-Smith, Executive Director, International Rescue Committee UK
Kate Newman, CEO, INTRAC
Tufail Hussain, UK Director, Islamic Relief Worldwide
Thomas Kingsley, UK Director, Light for the World
Fiona Greig, CEO, Link Education International
Maria Spink, CEO, Lyra in Africa
Philippa Lei, Chief Global Advocacy Officer, Malala Fund
James Tibenderana, Chief Executive, Malaria Consortium
Joshua Castellino and Claire Thomas, Co-Executive Directors, Minority Rights Group
Amanda Wilkinson, CEO, Motivation
Irfan Khan, Director Humanitarian and International Partnerships, Muslim Hands
Michael Reed, Chair, Omega Research Foundation
Romilly Greenhill, UK Director, ONE Campaign
James Harcourt, Managing Director, Options
Caroline Moore, Director of Strategy, Planning & Performance, Plan International UK
Alistair Currie, Head of Campaigns, Population Matters
Simon Hotchkin, Director of Impact, Influence and Innovation, Practical Action
Richard Curtis, SDG Advocate and Co-Founder, Project Everyone
Odette Hekster, Managing Director, PSI-Europe
Rob Capener, Group CEO, Railway Children
Ian Shapiro, CEO, Reall
Alex Kent, Co-CEO, Restless Development
Kitty Arie, CEO, RESULTS UK
Paul Stuart, CEO, Ripple Effect International
Gwendolen Hines, CEO, Save the Children UK
Dr John A McConnell, Managing Trustee, Scholarships for Street Kids (S4SK)
Frances Guy, CEO, Scotland’s International Development Alliance
Victoria Lupton, Founder & CEO, Seenaryo
Patricia Alexander, Managing Director, Shared Interest Society Ltd
Jamie Drummond, Founder, Sharing Strategies
Dr Caroline Harper, Chief Executive Officer, Sightsavers
Alison Wallace, CEO, SOS Children’s Villages UK
Girish Menon, CEO, STiR Education
Mike Podmore, Director, STOPAIDS
Charlie Gamble, CEO, Tackle
Alexander Knapp, CEO, The AKCGlobal Group
Dr Lara Allen, CEO, The Centre for Global Equality
Ian Wishart, CEO, The Fred Hollows Foundation UK
Shona Lockyer, Chair of Trustees, The Kambia Appeal
Peter Waddup, CEO, The Leprosy Mission England & Wales
Darren Cormack, CEO, The Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
Lynne Morris, CEO, Toybox
Sara Bandali, Director of International Engagement, Transparency International UK
Caoimhe de Barra, CEO, Trocaire
Louise McGrath, Deputy CEO, Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET)
Sarah Kline, CEO, United for Global Mental Health
Philip Goodwin, CEO, VSO
Rob Williams, CEO, War Child UK
Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive, WaterAid UK
Beth Silver, CEO, Women & Children First
Sara Bowcutt, Managing Director, Women for Women International UK
Anita Tiessen, CEO, Youth Business International