High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons… next steps

The High-Level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda held its second meeting in London on 1 November 2012 and met with civil society the following day.

The HLP meetings with civil society comprised a roundtable with 30 civil society organizations (CSOs) and groupings; a meeting with the private sector; a meeting with young people and a Town Hall meeting with a broader range of CSOs. The roundtable provided an opportunity for a small number of CSOs to make specific recommendations for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, while the Town Hall meeting provided an opportunity for a greater number of organizations to put their key issues across.

Homi Kharas from the Brooklyn Institute, who is responsible for writing the first draft of the HLP report for the Secretary-General, pointed out that five meetings of the Panel are planned. The HLP’s work will be divided into three phases:

November – February: listening, consultations and deliberations

March – April: identification of significant priorities and prioritization

May onwards: awareness-building and targeting

The next meeting will be held in Monrovia, Liberia on 6-8 February 2013. The meeting will focus on national development and topics will include corruption, security, fragile states, and current issues around the world. The fourth meeting in Bali, Indonesia in March will focus on global partnerships.

Homi Kharas also emphasized that the future framework should address the ‘unfinished agenda’ of the MDGs. While the HLP had identified a common vision to ‘end poverty in our time’, it still needed to consider further what this actually means. In addition he pointed out that it would be necessary to consider what should be added/subtracted to address the challenges of today, as opposed to those of 2000.

During the Town Hall meeting a number of CSOs addressed issues related to health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights. The members of the HLP who were present, namely Fulbert Gero Amoussouga (Benin), Abhijit Banerjee (India) Graca Machel (South Africa), Gunilla Carlsson (Sweden), John Podesta (USA) and Amina J Mohamed (Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development planning emphasized various issues related to the theme of the discussions in London. These included the inclusion of non-communicable diseases and the importance of good governance as a cross-cutting issue.

Briefing by members of the HLP, 7 November 2012

Members of the HLP briefed UN Member States, at a meeting organized by the Office of the Presidency of the UN General Assembly and the Permanent Missions of Indonesia, Liberia and the UK on their discussions to date and expected work programme in the coming months, reflecting in particular, on the London meetings and received additional input from States.

According to Michael Anderson, Special Envoy of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the HLP agreed on 24 framing questions for its work, which soon will be posted on the Panel’s webpage, and decided it will produce papers on each topic. He noted that a possible outcome of the Panel’s work is to set out broad parameters to inform the Secretary-General’s report, not necessarily to suggest specific goals. Finally, he said the Panel is clear that its role is to support a Member State-driven process.

According to Amina Mohammed, the “One Secretariat” is in place and located at UNDP, with support from her and three other Assistant Secretaries-General. Meanwhile the Open Working Group (OWG) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not yet operational, but she hopes for a coordinated and coherent approach between it, the Panel, and the consultations. She also noted the importance of MDG achievement by 2015 and said outreach is a strong emphasis for the Panel, having learned from the MDG process.

For full report of the meeting see http://uncsd.iisd.org/news/post-2015-panel-reports-on-emerging-areas-of-consensus/