“Where are we at on SDG Progress?―Perspectives from around the Globe”
Panel Discussion Co-organized by Southern Voice and JICA Research Institute(May 28, 2019 – 10:00-12:30)
Background and Objective
As a side event of the T20 Summit in Tokyo (May 26-27, 2019), Southern Voice—a network of 50+
thinks tanks from Africa, Asia, and Latin America—and the JICA Research Institute, are pleased toorganize a panel discussion. The aim is to review progress of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) across the regions and draw implications for its accelerated implementation.
The 2030 Agenda provides a universal framework for both developed and developing countries toachieve sustainable development. At the same time, it is becoming clear that understanding
universality in our heterogeneous global system is more complex than it appears. This is because theimplementation process of the 2030 Agenda for all needs to take into account different nationalrealities, capacities, levels of development and priorities.
This panel will look at how different regions are facing the implementation of the SDGs. Fourpanelists from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will bring into the discussion their regional
overview. It will allow the audience and stakeholders to have a glimpse at the challenges the regions
are facing. It will also give an opportunity to share with the audience how Japan is implementing theSDGs and preparing for the G20 Osaka Summit.
From an operational perspective, this will be an opportunity to learn how countries are adopting aglobal Agenda and transforming it into national policies and local action. The outcome of this panel
will be important input to the G20 Osaka Summit in June and the subsequent High-Level Political
Forum at the UN SDG Summit in September.
The panel discussion builds on the findings from the Southern Voice’s flagship initiative “State of theSDGs”. This initiative brings into the political debates evidence-based analysis from research centers
across the Global South. This initiative aims at contributing to the implementation of the 2030
Agenda.
Information
Time and date: May 28, 2019 (Tuesday) 10:00-11:30 (seminar) /11:45-12:30 (networking lunch)*Light refreshments will be served right after the seminar
Venue: JICA Research Institute, 10-5 Ichigaya Honmuracho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8433
https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/about/access.html
Program
10:00-10:05
10:05-10:10
10:10-11:05

Opening Remarks:
Izumi Ohno, Director, JICA Research Institute
Overview of the Panel Discussion:
Estefania Charvet, Programme Officer, Southern Voice
Panel Discussions (moderated by Estefania Charvet)
1 Panelist 1: Rebecka Villanueva Ulfgard (Instituto Mora, Mexico) –Latin American perspective
 Panelist 2: Ibrahim Kasirye (Economic Policy Research Center,Uganda) – African perspective
 Panelist 3: Mustafizur Rahman (Center for Public Policy, Bangladesh)– Asian perspective
 Panelist 4: SDSN Germany (tbc)– from European perspective
Comments:
 Kotaro Katsuki (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan)
 Homi Kharas (Brookings Institution)(tbc)
Panelists will discuss challenges of implementation of the SDGs acrossregions, focusing on the following issues:
1. Policy alignment
2. Institutional structure
3. Resource mobilization
4. Partnerships and participation
5. Data and accountability
11:05-11:25
11:25-11:30
11:45-12:30

Open Discussions (Q & A)
Closing Remarks：
A representative from Saudi Arabia (tbc)
Networking Lunch<Profile of Panelists>
 Estefania Charvet: Programme Officer at Southern Voice for the State of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) initiative. Before joining Southern Voice, Estefania worked forresearch organizations and think tanks in South America and Europe. She was responsible for
conducting research on political inclusion, gender, participation, and accountability.
 Rebecka Villanueva Ulfgard: Associate Professor in International Studies, Instituto Mora, Mexico
City (since 2008). She has published with English and Spanish editorials and journals on Mexicoand the 2030 Agenda/Sustainable Development Goals, Mexico in the G20, Mexico’s International
Development Cooperation Agency (AMEXCID), and the inclusion of civil society and academia in
the foreign policy process and multilateral issues. She is the editor of Mexico and the post-2015
Development Agenda: Contributions and Challenges (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and the leadcoordinator of the Palgrave Macmillan series on “Governance, Development and Social Inclusionin Latin America”.
 Ibrahim Kasirye: Senior researcher at Economic Policy Research Center in Uganda. He leads theRegional Chapter on Africa as part of Southern Voice flagship initiative “State of the SDGs”. DrKasirye was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Development Economics at the Universityof Manchester-UK in 2011 and has extensive experience in micro-analysis of Demographic andHealth Surveys (DHS) and national household surveys.
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 Mustafizur Rahman: Professor Mustafizur Rahman is currently serving as Distinguished Fellow atthe Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a leading think tank in South Asia. Prior to this he was
Executive Director of the CPD (2007-2017) in Bangladesh. He leads the Regional Chapter on Asia
as part of Southern Voice flagship initiative “State of the SDGs”.
 SDSN Germany (tbc)
 Kotaro Katsuki: Director, Global Issues Cooperation Division, International Cooperation Bureau ofthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MoFA). His major assignments include: the Embassy ofJapan in the United States of America (First Secretary) and later in the People’s Republic of China(Counselor), Regional Policy Division at the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau (Principal DeputyDirector), Southeast Asia Economic Partnership Agreement Division (Director) and Third
Division of the Intelligence and Analysis Service (Director). He graduated from the University ofTokyo in 1994 and obtained MA for Regional Studies East Asia at the Graduate School of Arts andSciences, Harvard University in 1998.
 Homi Kharas: Interim Vice President and Director of the Global Economy and Development
program at the Brookings Institution. In that capacity, he studies policies and trends influencing
developing countries, including aid to poor countries, the emergence of the middle class, andglobal governance and the G-20. His most recent co-authored/edited books include: FromSummits to Solutions: Innovations in Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (2018),
The Last Mile in Ending Extreme Poverty (2015), Getting to Scale: How to Bring Development
Solutions to Millions of Poor People (2013), which are produced as part of JICA RI-Brookings
joint research projects.
<Website>(Japanese)
T20 公式サイドイベント「SDGs 実施はどのように進んでいるのか～世界各地域の研究者が語る～」（Southern Voice & JICA 研究所共催 パネル・ディスカッション）
https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/ja/news/event/20190528_01.html(English)“Where are we at on SDG Progress?—Perspectives from around the Globe”
Panel Discussion Co-organized by Southern Voice and JICA Research Institutehttps://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/news/event/20190528_01.html

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