Following the October 2015 adoption by 197 countries of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the well-deserved euphoria resulting from successful completion of the negotiations is being tested by a significant question - how will the SDGs be implemented at the national level? It is not yet known how national governments around the world will integrate the different SDGs within their national development frameworks. Another unknown is the means by which progress towards the goals is measured. Indicators of achievement will be developed nationally, but the detail on what these will look like, and who will measure them, remains to be seen.
These unknowns apply to global health as they do to all the other key dimensions of sustainable development. To help alleviate concerns over a potential knowledge vacuum relating to global health policy making and implementation, it will be crucial to have a ready supply of evidence, data and critical analysis which helps to fill the knowledge gap. In short, a game change is needed. But which institutions can play the role to provide this knowledge and change the game? Fortunately, there is an encouraging answer to this question – think tanks.
In November 2015, representatives of 60 global health policy think tanks and academic institutions from around the world met in Geneva to explore how they can contribute to the acceleration of the implementation of the SDG agenda on global health. The meeting revealed that think tanks and academic institutions are key players in the knowledge-policy interface for global public health. Their strengths lie in policy-relevant research and policy engagement, providing high quality, evidence, data and critical analysis to help frame relevant national policies on health, and monitoring and tracking progress and implementation of health-related SDGs. They offer a convening space for policy dialogue, and act as a bridge between national and international bodies. They also play an important role in synthesising and analysing national progress to feed into global policy processes, and translating global policy options, approaches and methodologies for adaptation and use at the national level. Ultimately, they can challenge conventional wisdom, and help shape the future by questioning the past.
An exciting outcome of the Geneva meeting was agreement amongst participants to continue working collectively to help accelerate implementation of the health-related SDGs. Participants – both “users” and “providers” of knowledge - recognised that think tanks and academic institutions have a key role to play. A sub-group of participants from the meeting is now taking forward the effort to create a community of practice of think tanks and academic institutions which bridges the local and the global, and will help to overcome the “North-South” divide. Through a close, effective partnership, these institutions aim to help accelerate progress towards the global health SDGs, whilst working together collaboratively to produce and share knowledge as a global public good. It is going to be an exciting journey – and one which hopefully will be a real game changer!
Written by Peter Taylor, Program Manager, Think Tank Initiative, International Development Research Center