!EVENT CANCELLED!

Alcohol policy as catalyst for sustainable development. Understanding alcohol as obstacle to development and advancing evidence-based solutions

This is a pre-GAPC side event arranged by Movendi International.

• Moderator: Jeff Collin
• Time: Sunday March 8, 2020 – half day 13:00-17:00
• Venue: Dublin, TBC
• Open to all GAPC participants and external guests

Registration

This event is open to external guest and all participants of GAPC 2020.

Please make sure to register and reserve you seat!

Click here to register.

Limited seating.

Short description

Alcohol is a major obstacle to development. The alcohol industry is a significant vector of under-development, including social, health, environmental and economic harm. Alcohol is in fact adversely affecting 14 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, curbing across the entire Agenda 2030.

This also means that the benefits of addressing alcohol as obstacle to development are substantial in multiple policy areas. In fact, evidence shows that evidence-based alcohol prevention and control holds.

Goals of the side event

This pre-conference side event seeks to deepen the understanding of how and to what extent alcohol and the alcohol industry are hindering sustainable human development; the event further aims to provide space for discussion to learn from local examples of alcohol as obstacle to development and of concrete actions to solve these problems; the third goal of this event is to explore evidence-based solutions and inspire action to help promote development through alcohol prevention and control.

Objectives of the side event

• Empower participants to understand the cross-sectorial nature of alcohol harm in the context of SDGs,
• Build the capacity of participants to promote alcohol prevention and control as solution for governments that seek development catalysts,
• Inspire participants to advocate for mainstreaming of alcohol prevention and control across relevant policy areas,
• Sensitize participants about alcohol industry as obstacle to development, conflict of interest and concrete flaws in the “partnership” approach suggested by the alcohol industry,
• Enable counter-action against the alcohol industry in the context of sustainable development,
• Raise awareness of alcohol policy advocacy opportunities within the global, regional and national SDGs infrastructure.

Purpose of the event

The event is designed to facilitate interactive discussion and exchange of best practices, experiences and local case stories to both help deepen the understanding of alcohol as obstacle to development in all its forms and of alcohol prevention and control as catalyst for development.

Another purpose of the event is to provide concrete tools and activity options to inspire advocacy for transformative change.

With this event we explore and answer the questions why the 2030 Agenda matters for alcohol prevention and control, and why alcohol matters in the 2030 Agenda.

We analyze the opportunities that the new infrastructure of the SDGs provides and which potential for the SDGs there might be through addressing alcohol harm.

Program

• Moderator opening (10 min):

Purpose, goals and objectives of the pre-conference side event, program of the event, etc.

• Setting the scene (10 min):

Overview of alcohol as obstacle to development, role of the alcohol industry and alcohol prevention and control as potential catalysts for the SDGs

• Q & A plenary (10 min)

Deep dive #1 (10 min):

• SDG 8 – Alcohol as obstacle to economic productivity, prosperity and development.

What’s the problem and what can we do about it?

• Discussion plenary (10 min)

Deep dive #2 (10 min):

• SDG 12 – Alcohol and unsustainable consumption. Connecting the health with the environmental dimension of development.

What’s the problem and what can we do about it?

• Discussion plenary (10 min)
• Refreshments break (15 min)
• Parallel group discussions

Deep dive #3 (25 min):

• Gender equality

Discussing a theme across the SDGs: gender equality and women empowerment and alcohol’s impact

What’s the problem? Which SDGs are affected? Local examples?

What can we do about it? Local best practices?

• Sharing with plenary

Deep dive #4 (25 min):

• Social exclusion and inequality

Discussing a theme across the SDGs: social inclusion and equality and alcohol’s impact

What’s the problem? Which SDGs are affected? Local examples?

What can we do about it? Local best practices?

• Sharing with plenary
• Discussion plenary (10 min)

Zooming out to zoom in: Why and how do SDGs 16 and 17 matter? (15 min).

• Presentation about the governance implications of the SDGs for alcohol policy.
• Big Alcohol as vectors of under-development,
• Issues of policy coherence, conflict of interest and institutional functioning.

Advocacy discussion (30 min)

• How to position alcohol in the broader development agenda?
• Which alcohol prevention and control solutions to advance for trans-formational change?

​Conclusions, wrap-up (10 min).