Please join us on June 18th for a public event focused on Sustainable Development Goal #16 which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
In recent years, there has been a “democratic recession,” presenting new challenges going forward. According to Freedom House, a total of
50 countries were deemed “Not Free” in 2018, representing
37 percent of the global population or
2.8 billion people. In 2018, the Freedom in the World report recorded the
13th consecutive year of decline in global freedom, which means that efforts to strengthen the rule of law in developing countries have been insufficient. Democracy is in retreat, and more should be done reduce homicide rates, increase anti-human trafficking efforts, and promote the fairness of elections.
There does, however, seem to be a window of opportunity to reexamine good governance and by extension the rule of law. Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, there have been several shifts that have created such an opening. First, the SDGs included Goal 16 Peace and Security that explicitly endorsed the need for good governance, rule of law, and strong institutions. SDG 16 represents a strong commitment on the part of the international community to supporting the creation of transparent and accountable governing institutions. Second, the
2015 Financing for Development conference held in Addis Ababa elevated the importance of domestic resource mobilization and private sector investment to creating sustainable sources of development finance. While strong rule of law is not sufficient on its own to mobilize these two pools of capital, it is necessary to ensure that countries can fully mobilize their own resources and investors can commit private capital safely. Third, USAID has launched a new policy framework called the
Journey to Self-Reliance which seeks to move developing countries along a path toward sustainability and off foreign assistance.
Please join us on June 18th for this important event.
This event is part of the "Chevron Forum for Development" series focused on the SDGs and made possible with general support from Chevron. So far, we have hosted events on the role of the private sector, SDG#7 on affordable and clean energy, and SDG#17: Partnerships for the Goals. 
