The United Nations Foundation and Southern Voice convened participants at a high-level event on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) to discuss progress on the 2030 Agenda for the Southern Voice’s State of the SDGs research initiative.

The aim is to identify those who are “left behind” within diverse contextual realities, reveal the complex relationship of trade-offs and synergies among specific goals of the 2030 Agenda and to explore the global governance-related factors affecting country implementation.

The first phase of the research initiative has six country case studies which were conducted in six countries: India, Peru, Ghana, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Bolivia. The studies from each country provides analysis and recommendations to improve the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were presented by representatives of each of the organisations at the event.

CSEA’s Executive Director, Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena, joined other participants to share recommendations, which emerged from CSEA’s case study ‘Is Nigeria on track to achieving quality education for all? Drivers and implications’. In his presentation titled "Beyond Local Policymakers and Education Practitioners: Global Considerations for Nigeria's quest for Quality Education", findings show that school-age children in the country are not acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills. The report also identifies groups that are being excluded from quality education and the global forces that limit Nigeria’s capacity to deliver quality education.

The "State of the SDGs" report was launched as a side-event during the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York on July 12, 2019.

Rapid urbanisation has continued to challenge the security of life and property in many of the sprawling and unplanned cities in Africa. The concentration of vast amounts of people in often small and poorly served cities has increased demands on already poorly resourced authorities for employment opportunities, energy, housing, transport, water, basic education and healthcare.

The 10th meeting of the African Policy Circle (APC) convened to discuss the common position and provide policy solutions under the theme “Safe and Secure African Cities of the Future”. CSEA research fellow, Precious Akanonu participated in this meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on the 30-31 May, 2019.

As a side event of the T20 Summit in Tokyo, Japan, the Southern Voice Network in collaboration with the JICA Research Institute organized a panel discussion 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 to achieve 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 the implementation process of the 2030 Agenda for all needs to take into account different national realities, capacities, levels of development and priorities.

CSEA senior research fellow, Dr. Adedeji Adeniran, participated in the panel discussion which featured panelists from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to discuss the challenges regions face towards the implementation of the SDGs and propose possible solutions to them. The panel discussion also builds on the findings from the Southern Voice’s flagship initiative “State of the SDGs”. This initiative brings into the political debates evidence-based analysis from research centers across the Global South, aimed at contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The event was held on 26 to 27May 2019.

The Africa- China Think Tank Forum hosted by the Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC) was organized under the theme “Rebranding Africa as Premiere Destination”. The forum was convened to promote Africa’s Global Economic Cooperation through sharing knowledge and research objectives on infrastructure, economic development and trade facilitation and initiating the process to establish global think tanks network committed to building great cooperation with China and the rest of the World.  CSEA research Associate, Joseph Ishaku participated in a Panel discussion titled “Rebranding Africa in the New World Order”. He highlighted the need to include Africa’s youth at the forefront of its development in an effort to plug Africa into the New World Order that is characterized by tremendous technological advances. Hence, it is critical to build the human capital of young people in Africa through massive investments in their health & education. The event was held from May 23 to 24, 2019 in Lusaka, Zambia.

The Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Nigeria workshop was organized to investigate aspirations and clusters of educational excellence, with an interest in the behavioral and social mechanisms for mobility.  The five project components will address: 1) Mission and Colonial Schools; 2) Free Primary Education (FPE); 3) National Youth Service Corps (NYSC); 4) School Based Management Committees (SBMCs); and 5) Political Economy. The RISE Nigeria project would provide evidence-based research and policy recommendations on school governance and key stakeholders, as well as demand for education. CSEA's Esecutive Director, Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena participated in the workshop which was held in Princeton University, New Jersey on May 20-21, 2019.