ORGANISED AS PART OF THE GLOBALPEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY

Declarationof the SDG 16Plus Forum,
Asia

2021

INTRODUCTION

We the diverse participants of the 2021
SDG 16 + Asia Forum (see participantshere) urge all key decision-makers andstakeholders at global, regional andnational levels to act urgently to address
the deteriorating democratic and humanrights situation in Asia and to promote
peaceful, just, and equitable societies
across the region. These ambitious policy
objectives are set out in SDG 16 of the
UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, to which all governments
across Asia are signatories.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
We urge decision-makers and otherstakeholders to act immediately to:

01
02
03
04
05
06

Reform the international peace architecture as articulated in “OurCommon Agenda”, recently published by the UN Secretary General

Establish an official annual, multistakeholder SDG 16 + Forum in Asia,
thus demonstrating policy leadership to other regions

Increase the provision of international development finance throughthe World Bank and the IMF to enhance peace, human rights,
democracy, and governance in the Asia region. The existing AsianDevelopment banks, including the New Development Bank, the AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Asian Development
Bank should also mobilise & increase funding for people-centereddevelopment and SDG 16 + in the region

Promote true peace and human security in the region, and the full
realisation of all human rights enshrined in the International Bill of
Human Rights, which includes the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Establish a UN regional human rights review mechanism for Asia,
based on existing models in other regions
Establish immediate access and safe havens for the millions of civilians
fleeing unjust rule, including from Myanmar and from Afghanistan
where legitimate fears exist about revenge killings, and the violent
suppression of women and other vulnerable communities

1. PREAMBLE
Today many countries in Asia experience continued shrinking civic
space combined with a prolonged attack on democracy whichhave given rise to a range of conflict situations within and acrosscountries in the region. This has impacted not only on long term
peace processes in Asia but has also prevented more inclusive
participation in public decision making. These worrying regional
trends have had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable
communities and have exacerbated the challenges confrontingthem.
With the benefits of hindsight, it is clear how the lack of integrated
and inclusive approaches to decision making within certain
countries, coupled with a systematic erosion of democratic values
over time, has led to overall system failure. The resulting politicaland social turmoil and unrest is quickly felt in neighboring
countries and the most vulnerable populations are often theultimate victims. National governments, UN institutions and global
civil society must unite to promote the causes of peace, theprotection of human rights and democracy in the region, as the fallof Myanmar to military rule, and of Afghanistan to the rule of the
Taliban have been major blows to peace processes in Asia in 2021.
It is in this context that the first SDG 16+ Forum in Asia has beenorganised by the Asia Development Alliance and its members, the
TAP Network, Forus International and Global Call to Action against
Poverty. The forum was part of the Global People’s Assembly on thesidelines of United National General Assembly, and was attended
by over 80 participants including CSOs, national, regional andglobal partners, national governments and UN institutions. The
SDG 16 + Forum brought diverse voices together to reiterate ourbelief in inclusive institutions, a just society and the embrace of
democratic values.

2. A RENEWED CALL TO
ACTION
The MDGs were defined by some as ‘minimum development goals’.
As a result, civil society globally worked to ensure that the SDGs
were a more ambitious policy framework and that they set higher
standards to be achieved by all countries and regions of the world.
While the SGDs are ambitious in many ways, they unfortunately do
not explicitly use the lens of human rights or of justice in the waythat they are framed.
The current crisis in Asia has reinforced civil society’s belief in theimportance of SDG 16 Plus of the UN’s 2030 Agenda (Just, Peacefuland Inclusive Societies) for achieving fair and equitable societies in
the region, as well as for the achievement of the wider 2030
Agenda. The successful implementation of SDG16+ in Asia has thepotential to reduce structural inequalities and to rebuild trust
between governments and people, while making societies more
resilient to future shocks and crises. However, the implementationof SDG 16+ in Asia is amongst the weakest implementation of all of
the 2030 Agenda goals. Overall progress with achieving SDG 16 + in
the Asia Pacific region leaves a lot to be desired (e.g. increased
violence against women and girls, children, etc.). Data gaps linked
to SDG 16+ also present a key challenge, especially at the regional
level. The 2022 UN Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development
aims to discuss on this issue, in order to increase national capacities
on data availability, collection & analysis.

As civil society organisations and other stakeholders from acrossthe region, we remain committed to the effective collective
implementation of SDG16+. We know that this is critical to thesuccessful implementation of all of the other Sustainable
Development Goals. We reiterate our call to all relevant actors especially to UN Member States and international agencies - to stepup their actions and investments for peaceful, just and inclusive
societies worldwide, especially in Asia. We also call upon the UN
institutions, international institutions and organizations, andmember states to better articulate the key challenges faced by the
Asia region, in relevant international and regional forums, and inparticular the challenges currently faced by Afghanistan and
Myanmar so that peace and justice can be restored in thesecountries. We call on all governments across the Asia region topromote the inclusion of the most marginalised communities inpublic decision-making processes especially Women, Children,
Persons With Disabilities, LGBTQ+, indigenous and ethnic
minorities, especially in those processes linked to achieving SDG16+.
Hence we also cross-reference the 2021 Rome Civil Society
Declaration to this document and call for further endorsement of
this important declaration by civil society across the globe.
Today authoritarian regimes from East to West Asia are abusing thelanguage and instruments of democracy to continue reducing civic
space for civil society organisations, from the Philippines to India.
This Forum salutes the courage of Afghan women who have beenprotesting in the last few weeks since the Taliban took overAfghanistan. The remarkable people power that has been so
evident in the region has continued to challenge draconian laws,
for example in Hong Kong in recent times. We are at an historic
moment for societies across Asia who must continue to call for thecommitment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - towhich their governments are signatories - to inform all public policy
and decision-making in the region.

Unfortunately, today we witness a worsening situation in Asia
where inclusive decision-making is concerned. Many governments
are moving in the opposite direction, especially during the time ofpandemic, which has been used to intensify a wider crackdown on
civil society and on human rights activists. Asia remains one of the
few regions which does not have a regional human rights review
mechanism, which would serve to hold governments moreaccountable for the commitments they have made under various
international human rights treaties to which they are signatories.
The commitment of various Asian governments to democracy isalso uneven. The UN system is often compromised relating towhether it can intervene or not, given the disproportionate powerof its Security Council. Civil society believes that the role of regional
bodies such as ASEAN should be explored in relation to theupholding and strengthening of democracy in East and South-EastAsia.

3. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
OF THE SDG 16 + FORUM
3.1 We call on the United Nations andInternational Communities to:
Afghanistan

Increase support for emergency evacuation, relocation, andresettlement operations for Afghans, particularly vulnerable anddeserving peoples , increase allocation of refugees by countries
Grant asylum to those who are at high risk and living in Afghanistan
and the speeding up of this process
Use all possible means to restore peace and democracy in
Afghanistan
Ensure that the cases of prisoners of war in Afghanistan are subject
to the standards of international law and justice
Act to prevent the spreading of the difficulties and challenges in
Afghanistan to the wider region
Build regional and international solidarity and support for the Afghan
PeoplePut pressure on the Taliban to restore human rights, especiallywomen's rights, in order to achieve the official recognition andfinancing that it seeks. In the meantime it should be pressured toallow humanitarian aid to be provided as needed.
Create an enabling environment for human rights, freedom and theliberty of people and open space for the media and for CSOs to be
active without unwarranted and unjust interferenceMyanmar

In Myanmar, deep roots of ethnic discrimination prevent the country frombecoming fully unified and achieving peace. Military authorities have
exploited a general lack of ethnic understanding and solidarity. On theother hand social movements and popular power have the potential todrive changes and to promote democracy (learning from the experiencesof Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia)
We urge all UN member states to:
Pressure the present Junta regime in Myanmar to immediately ceaseall violence, including killings, torture and arrests, and to reinstate theelected government, now formed as the National Unity Government(NUG), as the legitimate government of Myanmar
Ensure that the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights
Commission urge the Security Council “to consider all of the options it
has previously used to deal with gross human rights violations”,
including economic and financial sanctions, arms embargoes, andtravel bans, call for judicial action at the International Criminal Court(ICC) and deny recognition of the military junta as the legitimate
government representing the people of Myanmar precisely because
they are not
Support international media to listen to and broadcast the voices ofthe people of Myanmar, and recognise and support the agency of the
Myanmar people at this time. This will mean more engagement withprotest leaders and other legitimate Myanmar voices to understandtheir views and to know what support and solidarity measures could be
most useful, as well as financial support to independent media who arereporting, under extreme risk to their safety and lives, from Myanmar
Release all political detainees and educate Tatmadaw/Junta to respectelections and their legitimate outcomes
Ensure that countries like Malaysia and Indonesia work with the ASEAN
to help the people of Myanmar, and the people’s representative
government of Myanmar
Ensure that the youth in Myanmar receive assistance in terms ofmental health support given the challenges they have faced in theircountry. It is very important to address them and to engage them in the
youth development activities so that they are not left behind3.2 Call on UN , Member States andInternational Organizations
Reform the international peace architecture as articulated in “OurCommon Agenda”, recently published by the UN Secretary General
Ensure that National Governments, UN institutions, international
donors and global civil society unite for the cause of peace, protectionof human rights and democracy across the Asia Region
Strengthen mechanisms for inclusive public participation in themonitoring & implementation of the 2030 Agenda throughlocalisation and inclusive approaches, especially through theinclusion of marginalised and vulnerable communities
Promote true peace and human security across the region, and therealisation of all human rights enshrined in the International Bill of
Human Rights, which includes the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Ensure that militarised approaches to peace and security, which
unfortunately tend to be the norm, are not pursued by governmentsin the Asia Region as they consistently exclude and undermine
women’s participation, the protection of human rights as well as
systematically undermining opportunities for sustainable peace
Establish immediate actions and safe havens for the millions ofcivilians fleeing unjust rule, especially those coming from Afghanistan
where there are legitimate fears about revenge killings, the violent
suppression of women and other vulnerable communities
Negotiate arrangements with neighbouring countries forhumanitarian operations.
Increase financial support from the international community tosupport the effective and inclusive implementation of SDG 16+ acrossthe region
Apply sanctions to any country whose government is not legitimate,remove any preferential trading arrangements and ceasecommercial operations with it
Ensure that UN Resident country offices enhance theircommunication with UN regional offices, to offer support for any
development programs, especially those providing opportunities foryoung people to engage with UN spaces and consultation processes
to support Youth monitoring and implementation of the UN’s 2030
Agenda3.3 Redefining Democracy
Rebuild democratic models to make them more people centric andrepresentative, and ensuring the availability of adequate processes
for citizens’ dialogue
Ensure that the human rights discourse is retrieved from the handsof technocrats, and instead is used and owned by the people and notby elites
Ensure that the promise of the 2030 Agenda to “”Leave No One
Behind” is fulfilled and that robust democracies are build whichenable to full participation of the most marginalised communities("Nothing About Us Without Us")
Ensure that fully funded independent public monitoring andwatchdog bodies are in place, and their ability to continuefunctioning ensured, even if there is a change of government
Ensure that human rights institutions comply with 8 points of Parisprincipals
Encourage national politicians to stand not for populist ideas but forwhat is in the interests of all people, including minorities, and to act
with a longer-term perspective in mind
End corruption, (e.g. ensure independent police force in Malaysia tocheck excessive power )3.4 Linking SDG 16 +Recognise the critical interlinkages between SDG 16 plus and other
SDGs, especially during COVID 19
Urge governments to commit more towards urgent action on
SDG16+, and to clearly outline what they are doing regarding theimplementation of the 2030 Agenda; the VNR process is a clear
opportunity to do so
Recognise the role of CSO led spotlight reporting as an importantaccountability tool where the 2030 Agenda monitoring is concerned
Use tools, such as the SDG 16 plus CSO toolkit by TAP Network, tosupport CSOs to work at the local level

3.5 Human Rights/Partnership
Support strong popular movements in ASEAN countries to put
pressure on their respective governments to support the people of
Myanmar, and on businesses that invest in them, to start with
Strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships between state, private
sector and CSOs
Urge the governments of Republic of Korea and Japan to take the
DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society (adopted 6 July)
seriously and to change their policies and practices accordingly
Urge the UN member states to increase the provision of international
development finance through the World Bank and the IMF toenhance peace, human rights, democracy, and governance in the
Asia region. The existing Asian Development banks, including the
New Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) and the Asian Development Bank should also mobilise &provide increased funding for ‘people’s centered development’,linked to SDG 16 + in the region.

3.6 Capacity Building
Recognise SDG 16 + as the best framework to set the agenda forcapacity building of different stakeholders including civil society, andto address issues of human rights, criminal justice, and upholding therule of law. This kind of training should be made available toempower grassroots communities and various movements
Organise regular regional and national workshops to engage
grassroot communities and to support them in developing indicators
for the implementation of SDG 16 Plus, and to support effective
monitoring and tracking
Provide extensive capacity building to popular movements working
with Myanmar/Afghanistan on how to use existing human rights
mechanisms, including enlisting support from UN special
rapporteurs, from the UN Human Rights Council etc.
Ensure ongoing capacity building is provided for different
stakeholders, to educate communities at the grassroot level (+ for
young people) and to support the involvement of experts, especiallythose with expertise on the rule of law, crime prevention, criminal
justice, democracy and human rights
Strengthen capacity building courses/tools available to different
stakeholders, including civil society in terms of the rule of law, crime
prevention, criminal justice, democracy and human rights andencourage learning about the benefits of multi-stakeholder
engagement where diverse partners share their experience andexpertise
Support the SDG 16 + related knowledge, tools and resources tosupport the gathering of data/evidence and the documentation ofhuman rights violations happening in Myanmar and Afghanistan andelsewhere in Asia at present

3.7 Humanitarian Assistance
Increase humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and its neighboring
countries to which Afghans are fleeing.
Pledge new support for civil society groups inside and outside ofAfghanistan, recognise their need for humanitarian assistance andsupport them in protecting the rights of people from Afghanistan and
Myanmar
Massively increase humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar andAfghanistan and accompany this with political action to protect thehuman rights, including civil, political, economic, social and culturalrights of the people of both countries
Forge collaboration between donor agencies, both bilateral andmultilateral agencies, and ensure that aid conditionalities promote
CSOs participation in relevant peace processes
Provide adequate humanitarian assistance and basic necessities
along with psycho-social support to the most vulnerable groups
Mobilize relevant agencies and mechanisms to provide relief forpeople in distress.
Ensure the strong voices of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in
relevant decision-making processes including where the provision ofhumanitarian assistance is concerned
Build and strengthen local civil society, including human rights anddevelopment CSOs, in these countries instead of exclusively
supporting global aid agencies

3.8 Restore Peace and Stop Violence
Ensure quality education for all as a fundamental condition for peacebuilding and stability, protecting people's rights and freedom,
particularly the rights of women and girls
Create an independent, disability and gender-sensitive investigative
and accountability mechanism at the United Nations Human Rights
Council.
Ensure that the UN Security Council passes a resolution to protect
Afghan and Myanmar women, girls and minorities
Reject all violence against peaceful protesters and call for “utmost
restraint” by the current regimes in Afghanistan and Myanmar, touphold “democratic institutions and processes” and for the immediate
release of detained government leaders
Uphold the rule of law, the democratic process and human rights incountries in the region which are in conflictTHE DECLARATION OF THE
ASIAN FORUM ON SDG 16+
This declaration was drawn up based onwide-ranging
presentations
anddeliberations during the 2021 SDG 16 +Forum, and inputs were provided byparticipating organisations from across the
Asia region and internationally.
The participants of the 2021 SDG 16 + Forum
included
Organizer
Asia Development Alliance
Co-Organisers
Forus
TAP Network
GCAP Global
Japan NGO
Cooperation

CenterforInternational

Participating Organizations
Afghanistan National Education Coalition
Organization (ANECO)
ARGO, Kazakhstan
Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement
Mechanism
CECOEDECON & PAIRVI
Finnish Development NGO, Finland
Former UN Spevial Rapporteur on Extrajudicial
Executions and Extreme Poverty & Human
Rights ( P. Alston- NYU Law Professor)
Governance and Peacebuilding Team Leader B
Govt of Malaysia
Human Right Commission, Malaysia
Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development,
Republic of Korea
Malaysia CSO-SDG Alliance for SDGs
Bihar Legislative Council, India
MGOS Coordination Mechanism for the HLPF
Oxfam India
Pakistan Development Alliance
Progressive Voice, Burma
UN ESCAP, Bangkok