Leave No One Behind Hearings for youth 💪

on 12^th and   13^th April UNA Tanzania through the Tanzania Sustainable Development Platform which it convenes coordinated the National Leave No One Behind Hearings for Youth in Dar es salaam. The youth hearing was conducted in collaboration with Mulika Tanzania and Restless Development Tanzania. There were around 70 participants, among them were representatives from civil society organizations, youth with disbailities, students, youth from formal employment, informal sector and youth enterpreneurs representing youth from 6 zones in Tanzania mainlan(the lake zone, coastal zone, central zone, upper northern zone, southern zone, upper southern zone) and Zanzibar.

UNA Tanzania through the platform conducted Voluntary National Review (VNR) Consultation Sessions to all 17 Goals, currently the ongoing process is conducting Leave No One Behind Hearings to marginalized and vulnerable groups including children, people with disabilities, youth and others. The youth hearing was an opportunity for young people to come on board and state their aspirations towards the national 2023 CSOs Voluntary National Review report. The key areas of focus were; Business & Investment Environment, Skills Development, Economic Empowerment, Digital Economy, Decision Making Processes and Sexual Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR).

The hearing was particularly significant for the youth demographic, it provided a platform for them to collectively deliberate and address their aspirations upon the various challenges and issues that are relevant to their age group. By the end of the hearing a national VNR youth youth report reflecting aspirations from the 6 key areas was obtained which will also be included in the 2023 CSO VNR shadow report on a special Leave No One Behind Chapter, thereby ensuring their voices and concerns are heard.

UNA Tanzania in partnership with LM International and IAS Kenya will be implementing climate resilience project in Mpwapwa District which aims to pilot a 7 pillar regional resilience model in Tanzania to strengthen the ability of communities to cope and regulate effects of climate change.

From 3rd to 7th of April our Climate Resilience Officer Ms. Haika Simon paid courtesy visits at the Office of The District Commissioner of Mpwapwa, she met the DC Hon. Sophia Mfaume as well as  visited 4 villages of Ng’ambi ward to introduce and set the ground for the implementation of a climate resilience project in the district.

The visits went hand in hand with initiating a baseline survey in the district with the aim of conducting climate risk and environmental vulnerability assessment in order to pilot a methodology for climate resilience based on the IAS Kenya Model so as to create an enabling environment and favorable conditions for communities to adopt and scale-up climate resilience practices.

On 4th April UNA Tanzania organised youth capacity building session on SDGs & Human Rights. The objective of the session was to provide comprehensive knowledge on SDGs & Human Rights as well as provide platform for sharing experience among participants that are working on such areas. The session was attended by around 30 youth from Civil Society Organizations and youth with disabilities.

Human rights are essential to achieving sustainable development that leaves no one behind and are central to all its three dimensions (social, environmental, and economic). This is reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (2030 Agenda), which seeks “to realize the human rights of all” and is firmly anchored in human rights principles and standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international human rights treaties. Driven by this connection which exists between the two, the designed session enhanced human rights based approach advoacy skills and facilitated the participants to mainstream and integrate SDGs, Human Rights & human rights based approach advocacy into youth programming at organizational level. This was conducted through a programming tool which the participants used to align objectives of their organizational activities with a specific SDG and its corresponding huma right. Furthemore desribe how it contributes to enhance human rights.

“Human Rights are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Jamii Intergrated Development Initiative (JIDI) is honored to have been part of the capacity building session that provided comprehensive knowledge on SDGs & Human Rights based advocacy skills. We look forward in using the toolkit to analyze the integration of SDGs and Human Rights advocacy approach in our organization” – Deborah Kaluzi from JIDI ( left on the photo)

Voluntary National Review (VNR) is part of the formal intergovernmental follow-up and review process on the Agenda 2030 which is presented at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF). This process is voluntary, state-led, country driven, undertaken by both developed and developing countries. It is a platform for partnerships, including participation of major groups and other stakeholders.

VNR Consultation working session on SDG 5 led by TGNP

The 2023 Voluntary National Review marks a second time that Tanzania is reporting the progress of SDGs at HLPF (the first time being 2019). This year’s theme is “Accelerating the recovery from COVID-19 and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels.” Goals which will be under review are SDG 6 (water and sanitation), 7(Clean Energy), 9(Industrialization, Infrastructure and Innovation), 11 (Sustainable Cities), and 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

In Tanzania, CSOs VNR process is led by the Tanzania Sustainable Development Platform which is co-convened by UNA Tanzania. The Government through the National Coordination Framework for the Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting of the Sustainable Development Goals (NCF-SDGs) mandated the Tanzania Sustainable Development Platform to coordinate civil society on SDGs related aspects. The overall objective of the NCF-SDGs is to facilitate smooth, efficient and effective coordination of the implementation, monitoring and reporting of the SDGs and the other international and regional development commitments.

VNR Consultation working session on SDG 4 led by HakiElimu

The Platform commenced national CSOs consultations on February and shall proceed to cover the goals and leave no one behind hearings which will focus on the groups that are vulnerable and most likely to be left behind in the implementation of SDGs these groups will involve women, children, youth, people with Disability, People Living with HIV, farmers, Media and KVPs. The consultations have already involved more than 300 CSOs representing 7 zones of the Tanzania mainland; Central zone, Coastal zone, Lake zone, Northern zone, Southern Highlands zone, Southern zone as well as Zanzibar. Some of the regions that attended the consultations included Mtwara, Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma, Lindi, Kilimanjaro, Shinyanga, Singida, Morogoro, Manyara, Iringa, Pwani and Kigoma.

More information on the VNR consultations ca be found on the website of the Tanzania Sustainable Development Platform; www.maendeleoendelevu.or.tz

With a focus on delegates from the least developed countries (LDCs), small island developing states (SIDS), indigenous peoples, and other minority groups worldwide, the International Youth Climate Delegate Program (International YCDP) offered by the United Nations Climate Change  will integrate 100 youth into the process of negotiating global climate policy.

Her Excellency Shamma Al Mazrui, the COP28 Youth Climate Champion, will be in charge of this activity, which will be run in conjunction with YOUNGO, the UNFCCC’s official children and youth constituency (UNFCCC).

Mentioned below are just a few of the program’s set targets::

• Ensure that youth views and proposals are fully integrated into global climate policymaking and dialogues.
• Build youth skills, capacity, knowledge, and networks, particularly in the most impacted countries, to engage in climate processes.
• Provide a model for the COP process on youth inclusion.

The timeframe in which the program will run:

The International YCDP runs from March to December 2023. The timeline for the selection period is expected to be as follows:

Applications open March 15 and will close by 7 April, 2023.

A selection committee, run and staffed by YOUNGO, will shortlist candidates and invite them for interviews on a rolling basis.

Shortlisted candidates will also be asked to submit a short essay on a climate-related topic specified by the committee.

Final interviews will be conducted between mid-to-end April.

Candidates interested in selection for the June SB58 Bonn intersessional are encouraged to apply early and indicate existing EU travel authorization in their applications.

YOUNGO will inform candidates of selection by early May and the 100 selected delegates will be announced later that month.

The program will run from May through December 2023.

More information and the application form ca be found through: https://cop28.com/en/youth-program