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Resolution 2271 (2019)
Strengthening co-operation with the United Nations in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
1. The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates
its commitment to international order based on effective multilateralism,
with the United Nations and its charter as its cornerstone. As universal
values such as human rights are increasingly being challenged, it
is essential to strengthen mutual support between the United Nations,
as a global organisation, and regional partners based on these values,
such as the Council of Europe.
2. The Assembly greatly values the fruitful and multifaceted
co-operation between the Council of Europe and the United Nations
founded on the complementarity of their action to protect peace
based on respect for human rights. It strongly believes that the
Council of Europe, as an important multilateral player at the European
level, must contribute more actively to the United Nations’ efforts
to address key global challenges.
3. In this context, the Assembly attaches great importance to
the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted
at the global summit in September 2015 and to the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) set out to achieve this ambitious and comprehensive
agenda by 2030. The Assembly welcomes the fact that the SDGs are
accompanied by targets and that indicators enable the progress in
achieving them to be measured.
4. The Assembly particularly welcomes the emphasis which the
2030 Agenda places on human rights, the rule of law and good governance
through democratic institutions, thereby closely linking it with
the core values on which the Council of Europe is founded.
5. The Assembly also welcomes the importance given to gender
equality as a transversal objective throughout the 2030 Agenda and
fully supports this approach. It commends the United Nations for
making the fight against violence against women and domestic violence
a priority.
6. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda will require full mobilisation
of all stakeholders. While the primary responsibility for achieving
the SDGs lies with the national authorities of United Nations member States,
regional organisations such as the Council of Europe can facilitate
the effective translation of global sustainable development policies
into concrete action at national level.
7. In this respect, the Assembly refers to United Nations General
Assembly Resolution A/RES/73/15 on co-operation between the United
Nations and the Council of Europe, which welcomes the contribution
of the Council of Europe to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
in Europe and beyond. It notes that our Organisation is already
contributing to 13 of the 17 SDGs, in particular to SDGs 5, 10 and
16 which focus respectively on achieving gender equality and empowering
all girls and women, reducing inequalities and ensuring social protection
for all, and guaranteeing unimpeded access to justice.
8. In order to maximise its contribution, the Council of Europe
should make full use of strengths such as its unique and widely
recognised standard-setting role, which has resulted in a number
of groundbreaking conventions, its multi-stakeholder structure,
its monitoring and reporting mechanisms, the support it provides to
its member States, its position as a platform for exchanging information
and sharing experience and good practice, and its global outreach.
9. The main force of the Council of Europe is its convention
system. Its effectiveness is ensured by unique monitoring and follow-up
bodies and processes which assess member States’ compliance with
conventions on the basis of measurable benchmarks and indicators.
This produces unique and vital data for identifying where progress
has been achieved, and where challenges remain; this data is in
several cases applicable also to certain SDGs. Since many SDGs and
specific targets correlate with obligations under relevant Council
of Europe conventions, the Organisation’s member States are legally
bound to comply with 2030 Agenda goals and targets.
10. In line with United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/73/15,
the Parliamentary Assembly recognises the need for the United Nations
and the Council of Europe to continue to work together, within their respective
mandates, to accelerate the pace of the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals towards fulfilling the 2030 Agenda.
11. The Assembly calls on the Council of Europe member States
and, where relevant, observer States and States whose parliaments
enjoy observer or partner for democracy status with the Assembly
to:
11.1. fully honour their commitments
to the SDGs;
11.2. sign, ratify and efficiently implement the Council of
Europe legal instruments, in particular those which directly contribute
to the achievement of SDGs;
11.3. when reporting to Council of Europe monitoring bodies,
make reference, where applicable, to relevant SDGs;
11.4. make reference systematically to relevant obligations
under the Council of Europe legal instruments to which they are
a party and make full use of the reporting they are carrying out
in the process of monitoring their compliance, in the context of
assessing progress in the implementation of SDGs, including when
presenting voluntary national reviews;
11.5. include parliamentarians in their national structures
and delegations at the various stages of reviewing SDGs, including
at the sessions of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable
Development and the United Nations General Assembly, as well as
at thematic events, and provide them with the possibility to participate
actively in the work of these processes and events;
11.6. involve civil society organisations during the review
of the implementation of SDGs, including during the preparation
of voluntary national reviews;
11.7. suggest impact assessments of national legislation by
considering whether laws foster or hinder the meeting of the targets
described in the SDGs.
12. With reference to Resolution
2272 (2019) “Implementation of the Sustainable Development
Goals: synergy needed on the part of all stakeholders, from parliaments
to local authorities”, the Assembly further calls on the parliaments
of Council of Europe member and observer States, as well as parliaments
enjoying observer or partner for democracy status with the Assembly,
to:
12.1. play an active role in
the implementation of the SDGs, in setting priorities, ensuring
progress and playing a role in monitoring and evaluating national
efforts to implement the SDGs;
12.2. encourage its members to join their country’s delegation
to the General Assembly of the United Nations;
12.3. ensure that voluntary national reviews, including the
budgetary aspects, are first presented to, and discussed in, national
parliaments;
12.4. hold debates on the activities of the United Nations in
order to increase public awareness of its role as a cornerstone
of multilateralism and with the aim of increasing knowledge of the
benefits that the United Nations 2030 Agenda can bring to every
person’s daily life.
13. The Assembly calls on the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe to:
13.1. continue highlighting
the mutual relevance of the Council of Europe activities and the
2030 Agenda process, notably by:
13.1.1. inviting the different
intergovernmental committees and structures to regularly include the
item of the United Nations 2030 Agenda on their agendas, with a
reference to relevant Council of Europe conventions, and by stimulating
the exchange of experience and good practice, with the aim of making
progress in achieving the SDGs;
13.1.2. identifying the various activities, including those in
neighbouring regions, which contribute to relevant SDGs;
13.1.3. bringing up issues relating to the 2030 Agenda on the
occasion of country visits, and by inviting other Council of Europe
interlocutors to do so;
13.2. ensure that the Council of Europe is duly represented,
and its contribution made available, at the various stages of reviewing
SDGs, including at the sessions of the High-level Political Forum
on Sustainable Development and the United Nations General Assembly,
as well as at thematic events;
13.3. find a way for the Council of Europe to be represented,
in a visible and co-ordinated way, at the United Nations Headquarters
in New York;
13.4. explore the feasibility of the Council of Europe organising,
in co-operation with relevant United Nations bodies, a multi-day
regional European conference in 2022 on selected SDGs the Council
of Europe is contributing to;
13.5. consider ways to engage with the business community in
order to promote sustainable and responsible business, in line with
the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
14. The Assembly calls on the United Nations to:
14.1. draw greater benefit from the
Council of Europe’s unique experience in human rights, parliamentary
democracy and the relevant standards, notably the useful benchmarks
that they provide, and their monitoring reports;
14.2. acknowledge, make visible and fully use the Council of
Europe’s contribution to the implementation of SDGs;
14.3. further promote Council of Europe legal instruments open
to non-member States.
15. For its part, the Assembly resolves to:
15.1. regularly review the implementation of SDGs and fully
play its role as a platform for exchanging national experience and
good practice;
15.2. strengthen the parliamentary contribution to, and dialogue
with the United Nations, focusing on the implementation of SDGs
and the complementarity between the Council of Europe and the United Nations,
including with its agencies based in Geneva and Vienna;
15.3. label its activities, including those in neighbouring
regions, as those contributing to relevant SDGs.