UN to commence the last stages in finalizing the New Post 2015 Development Agenda

On December 4th, 2014 the Secretary General launched an advanced edition of his Synthesis Report entitled ‘The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet.’  I like the title, do you?  The official version is now available in six languages Synthesis Report of the Secretary General on the Post 2015 Agenda.  An outline of the report was posted on on December 18th.

The Working Group on Girls has posted a response to the Synthesis Report.  You can access all the responses here.  Another response that you may be interested in is the Women’s Major Group Response. You will find it posted on Website dated December 20, 2014  These will give you some perspectives on the issues of concern about girls and women  in the Post 2015 Agenda.

On Friday 16th January there is a stakeholders preparatory Forum.  The session from 11.00 – 1.00 p.m. will focus on the Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report.

The afternoon session will begin to deal with ‘Means of Implementation and global partnership for development.”  This will be making reference specifically to Goal 17 Goal-17

Easy access to the Open Working Group proposal for Sustainable Development Goals can be had HERE

The 17 goals and targets listed.  Towards the end of the document is Goal 17 divided into the following subheading Finance with five targets;  Technology with three targets; Capacity Building one target; Trade with three targets; and Systemic Issue with the following subheading: Policy and Institutional Coherence has 3 targets; Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships has 2 targets; and Data, Monitoring and Accountability has 2 targets.

Would love to hear if you have opinions about any of the above?  Why not post a comment in the comment box.

 

Beyond 2015 ‘Call for Participation …’

Congratulations to 37 ‘Good Shepherd’ led initiatives in 27 countries for engaging in the  ‘Beyond2015’s Call for Participation’  showing to our governments that we want to remain engaged during all phases of the setting of the post-2015 agenda.  To see the list of 826 organizations who signed including your own Click here!  Good Shepherd is significantly on board for the new development agenda.  Implementation will be at the national level.

The intergovernmental modalities were agreed yesterday December 17th.  The dates of significant meetings are

  1. Further decides on the following provisional indicative roadmap:
    (a) 19-21 January 2015 [3 days] – Stocktaking
    (b) 17-20 February 2015 [4 days] – Declaration
    (c) 23-27 March 2015 [5 days]  Sustainable Development Goals and targets
    (d) 20-24 April 2015 [5 days] – Means of Implementation and Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
    (e) 18-22 May 2015 [5 days] – Follow up and review     (f) 22-25 June 2015 [4 days] – Intergovernmental negotiations on the outcome document                       (g) 20-24 July 2015 and 27-31 July 2015 [10 days] – Intergovernmental negotiations on the outcome document.

The initial draft of the outcome document on the post 2015 development agenda shall be prepared by the co-facilitators  on the basis of views provided by member states and shall be presented to member states by May 2015 for the intergovernmental negotiations.   The co-facilitators of the process are Ambassador Kamau of Kenya and Ambassador David Donoghue of Ireland.

ambassador Kamau   Ambassador-David-Donoghue-114px

If you are interested in doing a little reading see the Synthesis ReportSynthesis report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015 development agenda “The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet.  It will be available in all UN languages in January 2015  To read more click here

The United Nations Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will be held from 25 September to 27 September, 2015, in New York and convened as a High-level Plenary meeting of the General Assembly.  This will coincide with 70 years of the United Nations.

The President of the General Assembly also has scheduled some relevant sessions:

i) High-Level Thematic Debate on Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 development agenda (9-10 February 2015)
ii) High-Level Thematic Debate on Advancing Gender equality and empowerment of Women in the Post-2015 development agenda (March 6,2015)
iii) High-Level Thematic Debate on Promoting Tolerance and Reconciliation (6 or 10 April 2015 tbc)
iv) High-Level Thematic Debate on Strengthening Cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations (May 15, 2015)
v) High-Level Event on Climate Change (29 June 2015).

The Third International Conference on Financing for Development – to be held in Addis Ababa from July 13th – 16th 2015 will hopefully impact positively the means of implementation in the Post 2015 Development Agenda.  See More

 

Link to Webcast on Child, Early and Forced Marriage

UN Webcast of panel discussion on child early and forced marriage.

FlaviaPansieri (1)Ms Flavia Pansieri, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights addressed the panel via video link.

Her address is especially relevant as Ms. Pansieri pulls together the numerous root causes of child, early and forced marriage emphasizing the need for comprehensive strategies towards its elimination. One of the main recommendation of Human Rights Council Resolution on ‘Strengthening efforts to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage: challenges, achievements, best practices and implementation gaps’ is the need for comprehensive approaches to eliminate it as  part of the broader development agenda  together with promoting  equality and eliminating  discrimination against all girls and women.   Integrating the elimination of child, early and forced marriage into the overall development approach is critical.  Target 5.3 of the Outcome Document of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals  submitted to the UN General  Assembly recently reads “Elimination of all harmful practices including child, early and forced marriage.”  It is important that this target is retained as there are a host of human rights violations interconnected.

Within child and forced marriage the informed consent of the girl or woman is absent.  This is a serious human rights violation.    Access to education, information, health, services, as well as productive resources and decision making are equally at risk in child and forced marriage.

There is a need for a common understanding of the meaning of the terms – child, early and forced – based on authorative guidance from human rights mechanism.

The human rights of the girl or woman who is ‘married off’ are violated and this in turn sets up and solidifies a cycle of discrimination and denial of human rights. These rights violations have high development costs. The elimination child, early and forced marriage will require overcoming many development challenges with regard to access to education and the eradication of poverty.

In child, early and forced marriage, the marriage is a way to provide economically for girls who  themselves have no autonomy,  have no access to resources or income especially in situations of extreme poverty.  The economic benefits of child, early and forced marriage are greater when the children are younger as the dowry is lower for younger brides.

Child and forced marriage are strongly associated with girls and women with little or no formal education, and  persists where there is poor quality education,  overcrowding, untrained teachers, and gender based violence.   These increase the likelihood of child and forced marriage. Finding effective ways to lift communities of out of poverty and keep girls in school must be a key development priority and strategy to end child, early and forced marriage.

But this is not enough.  The roots are in discrimination based on sex, and widespread stereotypes about the role girls and women have in the family and society.  Sustainable development is impossible as long as the talents and skills of 50% of the population are effectively squandered.

Child and forced marriage is one of the most glaring manifestations of how discrimination and stereotypes have hindered progress for girls and women.  If ‘married off’ the  girl has less opportunities for education, employment,   access to land and other productive resources and experiences challenges in achieving her rights  Sustainable development needs to urgently  address the  harmful stereotypes of girls and women’s role within marriage and in society.

Child and forced marriage is a matter of health and survival.    90% of adolescent pregnancy occurs within marriage with the risk of dying either during pregnancy or in childbirth.   These girls and women are not empowered to make decision about their sexual and reproduction health, cannot decide on the number and spacing of their children thus compromising their health and lives and are also exposed to sexually transmitted infections and HIV.   Age appropriate, culturally relevant sexual education is essential coupled with accurate knowledge about sexual and reproductive health.

Putting the human rights  of every girl and every woman at the center of sustainable development means that no girl drops out of school to get married,  that each girl is fully empowered to choose if and when and whom to marry and to choose  if and when to have children.  Girls are equal member of society with the right to study, to work and to lead, not an economic assets or vessel of reproduction.    Implementing a human rights based sustainable development agenda benefits not just the girls and women but everybody,  man women and child.

Check out ‘The Girl Child’ Good Shepherd Position Papers  and the L Platform from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action The Girl Child

Non Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) Civil Society Consultation

The Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) has launched a civil society consultation on the report of the Secretary General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda which was released on Thursday.  The consultation is divided into two parts – responses to the narrative Pages 1-12 and 21- 28.  There is an opportunity for you to say what you agree with and what you disagree you with.

The second question has to do with the proposed goals, target and indicators Pages 13 – 19 and the Annexes i – iii    You can participate in the Consultation in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.

You can do so directly or share your thoughts with me and I will collate them and make a reply.

Launch of Secretary General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons Report on the Post 2015 Development Agenda

The report of the Secretary General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda  is being released today – Thursday-  and will be available on the website at 15:00 EDT.    A one pager highlighting opportunities to engage on the World We Want platform (www.worldwewant2015.org) during the release of the Post-2015 High Level Panel’s report has been prepared.  World_We_Want_Engagement-_HLP_Report_Release   
There are suggestions as to how you might participate.  If you have a Facebook page  post a link on your Facebook to the HLP Report Page using this suggested text:      The Post-2015 High-level Panel has issued its report!  Download it and watch the livestream of  the public discussion event.  See how the report compares to individuals’ and civil society priorities for post 2015, and share your feedback! http://www.WorldWeWant2015.org/HLPreport 
Watch the live stream of the launch event  “Discussion of the High Level Panel’s Report on the

Post 2015 Agenda” to be held 10am-­‐12pm EDT 31 May at UNHQ

If you use Twitter  Contribute to the event in real time on Twitter using #Post2015HLP

Check out the panel members.      Is this report receiving publicity in your country?  Check out the media?

The inaugural issue of ‘The 2015 Post’

The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) is pleased to share its new e-magazine, The 2015 Post. The aim of the e-magazine is to provide a range of different voices and views on key issues as momentum builds on the post-2015 and post-Rio+20 processes. It also offers a selection of opinion pieces, interviews and thought-provoking articles on some of the main issues at hand, as well as reports and resources from the UN system and civil society.

If you have been following my posts on this blog you will be familiar with some of the information – See April 22, April 10 and March 22. Read more bu  Accessing  the first edition here

See page 4 on where national consultations are being held?  Have you heard, read about or participated in these national consultations.  If so why not share your comments and reflections.  See page 28 and the case of El Salvador.

Do you live in one of the Least Developed Countries?  See the list below and page 39 of ‘The 2015′ Post’


List of Least Developed Countries

Definition of least developed countries.

The term “Least Developed Countries (LDCs)” describes the world’s poorest countries with following 3 criteria:

   
 Low-income criterion
based on a three-year average estimate of the gross national income (GNI) per capita (under $750 for inclusion, above $900 for graduation)
 Human resource weakness criterion
involving a composite Human Assets Index (HAI) based on indicators of:
(a) nutrition; (b) health; (c) education; and (d) adult literacy.
 Economic vulnerability criterion
based on indicators of the instability of agricultural production; the instability of exports of goods and services; the economic importance of non-traditional activities (share of manufacturing and modern services in GDP); merchandise export concentration; and the handicap of economic smallness.
   
List of Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
       
Africa      
Angola Benin Burkina Faso Burundi
Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros
Congo, Dem. Rep. of the Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea
Ethiopia Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau
Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi
Mali Mauritania Mozambique Niger
Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Sierra Leone
Somalia Sudan Tanzania Togo
Uganda Zambia    
       
Asia      
Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia
Lao PDR Maldives Myanmar Nepal
Timor-Leste Yemen    
       
Australia and the Pacific      
Kiribati Samoa Solomon Islands Tuvalu
Vanuatu      
       
Caribbean    
Haiti      

Source: Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
see also:   Criteria for determining the LDCs

Discussion on a new global development agenda have begun at the UN

The Millennium Development Goals  MDG’s set the global development agenda from 2000 to 2015.  There is a push on for their completion by 2015.  At the same time the discussions for a new development agenda has begun around Sustainable Development Goals SDG’s.  The Rio+20 Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in June of 2012 pointed in  ‘‘The Future we want’ available in English Spanish and French.  In paragraph 248 (page 46) the resolve was to set up and open working group (OWG) comprising 30 representatives nominated by member states.  This group has been establish and had its second meeting from April 17th – 19th 2013.  I was privileged to deliver the statement on behalf the NGO Subcommittee for Poverty Eradication and the Mining Working Group on Friday morning – A copy of the text is here and the link to the UN WebCast is here (Move to the end of the video about 2.34.

The summary of the three days as presented by one of the Co-chairs is excellent.  Summary as presented by the Co-chair.  I will pick up some highlights to encourage you to read it.  Do these phrases echo with you?  ‘We are engaged in a project of joint innovation.  We need and want new thinking.  We all agree that our task is to gradually craft the backbone of the transformative agenda. … The MDG’s a point of departure … we are entering uncharted waters.  This makes our work both exciting and challenging.  … Anxiety giving way to growing intellectual curiosity. …

To achieve complete poverty eradication in a sustainable way we need to address the economic, social and environmental factors  … we need people centered development … calls for strong cooperative global action … we need a narrative of transformative change to realise our vision of sustainable poverty eradication and universal human development , respecting human dignity and protecting our planet  mother Earth, living in harmony with nature for the well-being and happiness of present and future generations.  … We need new thinking on international cooperation beyond the traditional donor-recipient relationship. …”  What I was hearing is the same call that we have set ourselves in our Chapter theme “Energized by the Spirit, we risk together for mission…”

There are times when I find links between the chapter logo and logos that are floating with regard to the new development agenda.  Chapter logo

Compare with the Logo Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development  Agenda

   Logo_Advancing-the-Post-2015-Sustainable-Development-Agenda

Follow the interlinkages:  Poverty and Gender – See the following statement available in French, English and Spanish

Égalité entre les sexes pour mettre fin à la pauvreté                              Gender Equality to End Poverty – Bonn Conference Statement to HLP (2)                                               Igualdad de género para poner fin a la pobreza-Carta de Guadalajara al PAN Post 2015 (1)

I have endorsed this statement:  In our various ministries we are addressing  the increasing feminization of poverty, gender based violence, the structural drivers of girls and women’s poverty and inequality, the impact of climate change on girls and women, their families and communities and the devastating effect of land grabbing and the ‘extractive development model’  on perpetuating poverty for girls and women.   We promote  literacy and equality access of girls and women to quality education, implementation of the Social Protection Floor and urge for recognition of girls and women’s unremunerated work in the care economy.  We seek a new development paradigm that works for girls and women, includes girls and women, particularly the voices of socially-excluded, disenfranchised and marginalized girls and women, as part of the solutions and in the decision making.