- Basic Info
- Contact
- Work & Expertise
- Current Commitment
- Past Commitment
- Resource
Basic Information
Organization Name:
World Federation of United Nations AssociationsOrganization Regions:
- Global
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Organization Country Location:
United States -
Organization City/Locality:
New York
Organization mission and work description:
The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) is a global nonprofit organization representing and coordinating a membership of over 100 national United Nations Associations (UNAs) and their thousands of constituents. Guided by our vision of a United Nations that is a powerful force in meeting common global challenges and opportunities, WFUNA works to strengthen and improve the United Nations. We achieve this through the engagement of people who share a global mindset and support international cooperation – global citizens.
Organization's Contacts
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Primary Contact Name:
Bonian Golmohammadi -
Primary Contact Title:
Secretary-General
Additional Contacts Names:
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Additional representative #1:
Aziel Philippos Goulandris -
Additional representative #2:
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Additional representative #3:
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Additional representative #4:
OUR INTERNATIONAL COALITION IS MADE UP OF MORE THAN 400 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS
Learn about TAP Members & Partners
WHO ARE TAP'S MEMBERS?Organization's Work & Expertise
Organization's SGD16 Expertise:
- 16.1 - Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere
- 16.2 - End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children
- 16.3 - Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
- 16.4 - By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime
- 16.5 - Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
- 16.6 - Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels
- 16.7 - Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels
- 16.8 - Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance
- 16.9 - By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration
- 16.a - Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime
- 16.b - Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development
Organization's Areas of Expertise:
- Global/UN Engagement & Advocacy
- Accountability for the 2030 Agenda
- Policy Analysis & Advocacy
- Public mobilization & Campaigns
- Capacity building/CSO training & education
Current Commitment to SDG16+
Summary of commitment:
WFUNA commits to bring together governments, local and international civil society organizations (CSOs), members of the UN system, the private sector, academia and other stakeholders to discuss and share best practices on efforts to implement SDG 16+ at the local, national and regional levels, through the work of the 16+ Forum. The 16+ Forum aims to underscore interlinkages between SDG 16 and the wider 2030 Agenda through knowledge exchange and the sharing of lessons learned and best practices.
Organization's priorities and work in relation to commitment:
The 16+ Forum is a partnership between WFUNA, the Permanent Missions of Australia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Guatemala, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sweden, the Republic of Korea, Timor-Leste, Tunisia and the g7+, and aims to underscore interlinkages between SDG 16, the wider 2030 Agenda, as well as other UN priorities, such as Sustaining Peace. The 16+ Forum helps facilitate knowledge exchange and the sharing of lessons learned, solutions and best practices through its activities and events at UNHQ, reports and publications, and the Annual Showcase. Launched in September 2016, the Annual Showcase is a collective undertaking to demonstrate SDG 16+ in action – what implementation looks like, how to go about it and lessons learned going forward. With the participation of governments, local and international civil society organizations, members of the UN system, the private sector and academia, the Annual Showcase is a 4-day immersive global conference bringing together 250 stakeholders from more than 45 countries, and provides a yearly opportunity to highlight steps taken at the national and local level to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies free from fear and violence. Each year, the Annual Showcase features one flagship theme, with two underlying themes to ensure that the full breadth of Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies is featured during the discussions. The conference includes capacity-building workshops for local civil society organizations and private sector entities, field visits to government institutions and NGOs, and plenary and breakout sessions. Through these various sessions and visits, the Annual Showcase aims to enhance the sharing of knowledge and experiences in SDG 16+ implementation. Additional objectives include: ensuring and furthering the participation of state and non-state stakeholders, specifically civil society and community-level representatives, youth and marginalized groups; ensuring an interactive and engaging conference that reflects the workstreams and priorities of all major SDG 16+ actors; involving civil society, academia and the private sector in SDG 16+ advocacy, monitoring and implementation; continuing to build a movement for SDG 16+ at the local, national and regional levels; driving home the importance of impact and locally-led processes; linking the global conversation with national, subnation and increasingly regional partnerships and implementation; and capturing and featuring best practices of SDG 16+ implementation through the Outcome Document. The Outcome Documents from the 2017 Tbilisi Showcase, the 2018 Freetown Showcase and the 2019 Díli Showcase can be found here, here and here, respectively. The 16+ Forum’s ultimate objective is to support and work with stakeholders to reverse the current negative trends and achieve meaningful progress in SDG 16+ implementation by the SDG Summit in September 2023. More short-term goals include fostering greater collaboration through dialogue and exchange, and sharing best practices and challenges. By providing a platform for collaboration and exchange of best practices, challenges and successes in SDG 16+ policy and practice, the 16+ Forum works to positively impact the pursuit and advancement of SDG 16+ goals towards building peaceful, just and inclusive societies for all.
Organization's work related to TAP network's SGD16+ work & accountability for 2030 Agenda:
The TAP Network is one of the 16+ Forum’s closest partners, collaborating on a number of SDG 16+-related events and workshops, as well as joint publications. In addition, the TAP Network played a major role in the success of the 2019 Annual Showcase in Timor-Leste, co-leading the Civil Society Capacity-building Workshop and helping to bring in civil society organizations from its large network. TAP partners and members have also participated in all three of the Annual Showcases, and the 16+ Forum looks forward to continuing its joint work and to further strengthening its partnership with the TAP Network.
Plan on engaging in TAP's work as a Partner:
- Thematic Working Groups
- Exploring partnerships with like-minded organizations
- Global engagement via the UN and other opportunities
- TAP Network joint global advocacy
- Exploring opportunities for hosting TAP Network national or regional-level capacity building activities
Reports on Organization's Past Commitments
Since making its commitment in 2017, WFUNA has held two additional Annual Showcases – one in Freetown, Sierra Leone and the other in Díli, Timor-Leste – and the 16+ Forum has welcomed two new members: Costa Rica and Peru. These two Showcases successfully brought together SDG 16+ stakeholders from around the world, including governments, local and international civil society organizations, UN agencies, private sector companies, academic institutions and others. Throughout both conferences, stakeholders were provided with opportunities to learn from one another and each other’s experiences in implementing SDG 16+, sharing in lessons learned, best practices and challenges to achieve all targets and issues related to peace, justice and inclusion across the 2030 Agenda and other global frameworks. The 2018 16+ Forum Sierra Leone Annual Showcase was held in Freetown from 7 to 10 October, with over 180 representatives from 35 countries present. For the first time, the Annual Showcase adopted a regional focus, in addition to the traditional national and local levels of focus, thereby highlighting the work of regional and sub-regional organizations, such as ECOWAS, in advancing peace, prevention and sustainable development. With the breadth of SDG 16+ addressed throughout the conference, ‘peaceful societies’ provided the flagship theme of the 2018 Showcase. Given its relevance to Sierra Leone’s national context, and its links to Sustaining Peace, discussions around the policy and practice of prevention, addressing root causes and strengthening local resilience provided a fruitful opening for additional, in-depth exchanges on inclusion, accountable institutions and access to justice across national and regional contexts. With an eye to the High-level Political Forum in July 2019 and the SDG Summit in September that same year, the Sierra Leone Showcase provided additional impetus and energy for the movement behind SDG 16+ and for multi-stakeholder inclusion in process and product. As a catalytic component of an integrated and indivisible agenda, interlinkages across the 2030 Agenda also featured in discussions, as well as the myriad of stakeholders required to realize its full implementation. The 2019 16+ Forum Timor-Leste Annual Showcase was then held in Díli from 11 to 14 November, with over 250 participants from 45 countries in attendance. The flagship theme of this Showcase was ‘Reconciliation, Strong Institutions and Inclusion,’ reflecting the country’s recent history of reconciliation following over two decades of Indonesian occupation. Four major overarching themes emerged throughout the discussions, linking many of the best practices and solutions shared by participants. First, that the SDG 16+ framework is well-placed to act as an overarching strategic policy and planning tool across ministries and local authorities, particularly for framing politically challenging issues such as the protection of human rights. Second, localization of SDG 16+ is key to the 2030 Agenda’s success and therefore requires an increase in visibility and resources, as local and regional governments are keen to support the achievement of the SDGs through action from the bottom up. Third, advancing SDG 16+ requires a whole-of-society approach, which includes civil society, the public and private sectors, academia and the media. A balance of power between various stakeholders, granting more equitable access to decision-making processes, especially as related to civil society organizations is critical to sustainable and coherent delivery. And fourth, there is an urgent need to increase political will and accountability at all levels, with a dual focus on short-term impacts as well as long-term solutions. The Annual Showcase and the 16+ Forum continue to grow, with the aim of bringing on new Member States and attracting more participants every year. The Showcase has effectively become the SDG 16+ conference of the year, and WFUNA is keen to continue this work and improve on each and every Showcase through strong partnerships with other SDG 16+ initiatives, such as the TAP Network. The 16+ Forum has also taken on a leadership role within the wider SDG 16+ Community or Coalition since making its original commitment, actively partnering with the TAP Network, the Global Alliance, the Global Compact, CSPPS and the Pathfinders to advance peaceful, just and inclusive societies at all levels.
