Together with other civil society organizations in Japan, SGI has committed itself to the renewal process of the Japanese government’s SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles. Since its inception in December 2016, the document has been regularly updated, with the next revision slated to take place by the end of December 2023. Debate on upcoming changes is ongoing, both within and outside of the government.

Since 2020, SGI has served as a prominent player in the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Unit of the Japan Civil Society Network on SDGs (SDGs Japan). In September 2022, SDGs Japan recommended that each Unit submit a proposal to the SDGs Promotion Roundtable Meeting, a government-organized gathering for leaders and experts from various sectors.

Responding to this call, SGI took the lead in collecting voices from civil society organizations working for DRR, starting with an online meeting on 7 October 2022. The meeting gathered various inputs for DRR’s proposal, including from people with disabilities, and considered multiple issues, such as gender equality. The discussion highlighted hurdles in implementing the government’s policy of creating effective evacuation plans for all and stressed that female membership in local DRR committees across Japan is still below 20% on average. The DRR Unit considered the findings from these discussions when submitting their proposal to the SDGs Promotion Roundtable Meeting.

SGI continues to work to improve disaster risk reduction policies in Japan based on feedback from civil society.