Two events on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development
In recent years, various economic and ecological crises have had severe negative impact on the lives of people worldwide. The consequences of those crises pose challenges that can only be addressed through sustainable, harmonized and impactful policies on international and national levels. In this regard, incoherent policies adversely affect development in, both partner countries in the global South and donor countries themselves. While in the global South, the economic and social costs of incoherent policies often affect the poorest in the country, in donor countries, incoherent policies create costly inefficiencies. Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) seeks to meet those challenges comprehensively as it addresses crucial interdependencies of various policy fields.
On December the 10th, an international panel of different experts discussed challenges and opportuniert of Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development. Efforts to eradicate poverty, minimise inequalities, adhere to human rights agendas and implement sound environmental and climate strategies are directly connected with questions pertaining to policy coherence.
In a morning Rount Table as well as in an evening Panel Discussion, the discustants gave inputs and perspectives from Zambia, the European Union level, the OECD, Finland as well as from Parliament, ministries and civil society in Austria. In both events, the potentials and benefits of coherent policies for sustainable development were underlined and ways discussed on how to better exercise the responsibility to make policies more coherent for a sustainable development that benefits countries in the South and North.
27th of March 2019 - FAIRTRADE exhibition in parliament
The central content of this year's exhibition was the concept of Living Wage. More than one billion people worldwide are considered as working poor. Despite hard work, these people cannot pay for their own and the livelihood of their families. Helmut Schüller, CEO of FAIRTRADE Austria, stressed that the reasons for this include the unfair distribution of income and profits along the (international) value chains, the lack of opportunities for collective bargaining, and last but not least, low statutory minimum wages that scarcely provide for physical survival and do not allow for a decent life. In many countries of the global South, minimum wages account for only between 37% and 73% of the estimated living wage in each region.
A living wage is intended to ensure that work provides sufficient income to cover the cost of living for a family and enables participation in social life. Included are costs for adequate nutrition, housing, mobility, clothing, education, medical care and savings or a disposable income (for example for emergencies). The living wage is country-specific. The concept of the living wage is referred to in the UN Charter of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to work, satisfactory working conditions, and the right to adequate remuneration, which ensures that he and his family have a human dignity and, if necessary, other social benefits. Living incomes are closely linked to the SDG 8, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive full employment and decent work for all.
FAIRTRADE makes a significant contribution to the fulfillment of the SDGs. The aim of FAIRTRADE is that small farmer families and wage earners on plantations in the global South can live a safe and good life and determine their own future through fair prices for their crops and decent working conditions.
11th of December 2018 - Presentation of the Global Education Monitoring Reports
In a thematic section the report discusses key issues in the international education system, documents current research findings and practical experience, and makes respective recommendations. For the first time, the report was presented in the framework of the PNSD in the Austrian Parliament.
The GEM 2019 was dedicated to "Migration and Education - Building Bridges not Walls" and provided information on national differences in migration policy and migration patterns in education. Children of refugees and migrants are still under-granted the right to quality education in many countries. UNESCO senior analyst, Dr. Bilal Barakat, explained that in Austria the right to education for refugees is not comprehensive. It is the view of UNESCO that states should ensure education regardless of residence permit.
The committee and members of the Joint Parliamentary Peer Group, Hon. Nico Marchetti, Hon. Eva Maria Holzleitner and Hon. Stephanie Cox discussed with representatives of the Ministry of Education, the University of Innsbruck and PROSA (Project School for all) on the structural disadvantages faced by immigrant students and ways to further open access to quality education.
>>> Presentation Bilal Barakat
16th of May 2018 - FAIRTRADE exhibition in Parliament
The President emphasized the importance of the North-South Dialogue and FAIRTRADE in their contribution to a broader understanding and awareness of development policy at parliamentary level and in the population. Through numerous campaigns and educational programmes by FAIRTRADE, Austrians today understand global relationships much better, for example the effects of consumer decisions in Europe on people in Africa, Asia or Latin America.
FAIRTRADE Austria was founded 25 years ago and the first fair-trade coffee came into the local supermarkets. Today, 90% of citizens know the FAIRTRADE seal. The aim of FAIRTRADE is that small farmer families and workers on plantations in the global South can live a safe and good life and determine their own future, through fair prices for their crops and decent working conditions.
FAIRTRADE is an established and functioning system in global trade and makes a significant contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 SDGs (Agenda 2030, Sustainability Goals) must also be implemented in Austria in accordance with national framework conditions by 2030.
11th of December 2017 - DIALOG Event on SDG 4.7 - Global Citizenship Education
The focus of the DIALOG event on SDG 4.7 - Global Citizenship Education - was that education is seen as the engine of societal change. The SDG 4.7 aims to ensure that all learners gain the knowledge and skills to support sustainable development. The current (inter)national challenges make it necessary for people to be able to understand global issues and interdependencies and to reflect them sensitively.
Politics and society are called upon to strengthen the role of education in this regard. Education in this context must empower people to deal critically with global developments, to understand the complexity and variety of diverse perspectives, to think about what is fair and unfair, and to refelct how globalization phenomena relate to their everyday lives and to the scope of their own actions.
At the event, held on December 11 at the Press Club Concordia, education experts from academia, schools and extracurricular education underlined the need for global citizenship education. The school education is no longer the sole frame of reference in a globalized world. Global education is the prerequisite for promoting democracy. In Austria, there are numerous individual initiatives and activities, both in terms of the SDGs in terms of Global Citizenship Education. However, there are structural weaknesses and an inclusive overall strategy that would firmly anchor global education in the education system is missing.
More information also on the Homepage of the Kommission für Entwicklungsforschung (KEF).
>>> Presentation Werner Wintersteiner, Global Citizenship Education Lehrgang
>>> Presentation Friederike Koppensteiner, UNESCO Schulen
>>> Presentation Klaus Tasch, Direktor BRG Klusemann Graz
22nd of June 2017 - Round Table on SDG 4
On Thursday, 22nd of June 2017, members of the Austrian parliament discussed the status quo with regard to the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) in Austria with representatives of the civil society. The SDGs were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 and have been valid for all states since 2016, as Margarita Langthaler, facilitator from ÖSFE, explained in her introductory remarks. Jutta Kepplinger from the NorthSouthDialogue of Parliaments (PNSD) stressed the necessity of the dialogue between MPs and experts from science, NGOs and ministries, as well as the inclusion of as many MPs as possible from all committees. The latter is also of great importance with regard to Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, which not only concerns the development policy subcommittee. The chairman of the Family Committee and of the Joint Parliamentary Peer Group of the PNSD, Hon. Georg Strasser, pointed out that both the broad contexts and the microsystems should be considered and analyzed with regard to education.
In his presentation Dr. Gottfried Biewer (Head of the Educational Sciences at the University of Vienna) delivered a detailed gap analysis of the Austrian situation for each sub-goal of SDG 4. In some areas, Austria already fulfills the objectives in its entirety, for example by having compulsory schooling for children aged between 6 and 14/15. However, there are deficits, e.g. the missing structures for access to school education and/or training for non-school-age youths with migration background.
Dr. Andrea Schmölzer, Head of the Department for EU Coordination and Multilateral Affairs at the Federal Ministry of Education, explained the approach of the Austrian Federal Government, namely the integration of SDGs into relevant existing strategies and programmes (mainstreaming), coordinated by an inter-ministerial working group. A first stock-taking report of all Austrian ministries was published in autumn 2016. The primary objectives of the ministry are to increase the level of education among pupils and target groups in adult education, as well as the improvement of opportunities and gender equality in education.
Gabriele Eschig, Secretary General of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO, is convinced that society needs to undergo a transformation process to achieve social, ecological and economic sustainability. Education plays a central role in this process. The goal of Global Citizenship Education is the ability to participate and analyze different contexts in the globalized world. The current set-up of political education separates local, national and international spheres, which is obsolete.
The discussion with the representatives of the ministries, NGOs and civil society revealed numerous aspects. There were views for and against the abolition of the "Sonderschulen" in Austria, and demands for a comprehensive Global Citizenship Education in the schools were raised. The extent to which the current educational reform can close the identified gaps is questionable. This depends on the implementation, which certainly requires a great deal of awareness and information work in some areas. Particularly with regard to the implementation of the SDGs, the extracurricular (political) education work of numerous NGOs is important, and resources are needed for this. At the political level, the inclusion of the SDGs in the government programme would be a clear signal, and a mandatory governmental progress report to Parliament, which already exists in Germany, would encourage a coherent approach and implementation. In general, the SDGs can not be viewed in isolation from each other, since all the objectives are interlinked, which is why an overall strategy would be necessary.
Summary of central points of discussion and demands (by Margarita Langthaler):
- SDGs have not (yet) reached society through media, public relations; Parliament can contribute and push here
- Inclusion: there are different projections, it is important that information distribution and awareness raising in the sense of SDGs and inclusive education are made
- Challenge for young people with migration background: SDG 4 propagates 12 years of education for all and this can also be improved in Austria
- Different situation in Vienna and the federal states: also awareness raising necessary, one must take fears of the population seriously
- Education reform: it is not sufficient to meet the SDGs, but it is a first step; to close the gaps remains a challenge
- School and non-school education: educational organizations are doing an important job here and funding is needed
- SDGs must be high on the political agenda
- Gaps analysis is to take place for all SDGs
- SDGs should be considered beyond the respective sector, the interactions should be considered
- The German example is also to be followed in Austria, i.e. there should be an annual government reporting on SDG progress to Parliament.
>>> PPP Prof. Gottfried Biewer
30th of March 2017 - FAIRTRADE exhibition in parliament
Fair trade opens up educational opportunities in the south and supports global education in the north
This year's FAIRTRADE exhibition in parliament was under the sign of education. Millions of children and adolescents worldwide work in mines and quarries, in the textile industry, on fields and coffee or cocoa plants. The vast majority of them have no basic school education. Poverty is one of the main causes of child labour, as the children and young people contribute to the daily survival of the whole family. Without adequate education, they have few chances to acquire knowledge and skills for their lives. A school visit and good education are central to a humane future of the children and adolescents.
The Director of the Austrian Parliament, Harald Dossi, opened the exhibition by pointing out that the legislature of each country has the obligation and the mandate to contribute to a better world. In this sense the support of FAIRTRADE and its initiatives for education in the south and in Austria is particularly valuable. The managing director of FAIRTRADE Austria, Hartwig Kirner, described the efforts that thousands of children and young people undertake daily to go to school in many countries of the global south. This underlines the importance of education for people. FAIRTRADE does not regard child labour as an individual problem for the families concerned, but as a result of an unfair world trading system. Promoting fairtrade structures is crucial to protect children and reduce poverty.
It is also important to disseminate information on the global context of economic, environmental and social aspects of our lives, especially in the countries of the global north. This knowledge is conveyed through the concept of global learning and promotes responsible action in the sense of sustainable development. FAIRTRADE is active in numerous schools in Austria as well as in the apprenticeship of large trade groups, for example in the training of the FAIRTRADE ambassador, which was described by Andrea Matanovic, an apprentice of the SPAR academy. In this way, global knowledge and connections are to be conveyed to children and adolescents, entirely within the meaning of SDG 4.
13th of December 2016 - Round Table on Youth and Education
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Education has entered the SDGs as the fourth of seventeen goals. In addition, education is mentioned in sub-targets of other areas. This underlines its important role for sustainable economic and social development and for the achievement of all SDGs. But it is important to analyze the relation between different educational approaches in different contexts and their respective results. Under what conditions does education contribute to poverty reduction? Under what conditions does it strengthen democracy and participation?
SDG 4 provides for inclusive, fair and high-quality education as well as opportunities for lifelong learning for all people and is still far too little implemented in many countries of the world, also in Austria. Thereby, it is in particular education and training that enable (young) people to escape the poverty trap. Youths must be enabled by appropriate education to live a productive and humane life. The SDGs refer repeatedly to the concept of decent work, and in this context education must be more than the mere modeling of human capital for the globalized economy.
The speakers of the Round Table, Margarita Langthaler from the Austrian Research Foundation for International Development (ÖFSE), Helmuth Hartmeyer from the Institute for International Development of the University of Vienna, and Téclaire Ngo Tam from Global Education at Südwind, analyzed the SDG 4 with regard to its strength, weakness, opportunities and threats at the international and national levels. For example, the linear economic growth doctrine is also applied in terms of education - but important for sustainable development are skills that enable young people to critically question the global order in terms of economic, social and environmental aspects.
The discussion with the Members of the Austrian Parliament in the Round Table circled around questions about the mediation of global education outside an elite circle, but also on how to exchange experiences with peers from other countries on topics such as "What type of education do we want for our children and young people and for what purpose?" Ultimately, national decision-makers play a crucial role in developing binding laws and guidelines.
