MDGs Beyond 2015… the process to 2015

Introduction

MDGS – Beyond 2015

In common with the Programme of Action (PoA) of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the MDGs are ‘time-bound’, ie the time for their achievement was set as 2014 in the case of the ICPD PoA and as 2015 for the MDGs.

For the MDGs, the outcome document of the September 2010 High-Level Plenary Meeting requested the President of the General Assembly, in addition to holding a meeting in 2015, to “organize a special event in 2013 to follow up efforts made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.”1 Furthermore, the UN Secretary-General was asked to report annually on progress in the implementation of the MDGs and “to make recommendations in his annual reports, as appropriate, for further steps to advance the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015.”2

This process does not automatically ensure that reproductive health, as included in MDG Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health, will be regularly reported on. It should be noted that in the Annual report of the Secretary-General for the Sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly, Accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals: options for sustained and inclusive growth and issues for advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 20153 the only reference to reproductive health can be found in para 12 which says “Official development assistance (ODA) for reproductive health, which could ultimately reduce the cost of maternal and newborn health care, has decreased in recent years.”

UNDG MDG Task Force

A MDG Task Force was established in 2009 through the Working Group on Programme of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), co-chaired by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women. It was agreed that: 

“the overall scope of the MDG Task Force would be the IADGs (Internationally Agreed Development Goals), including the MDGs, with its main objective to follow up and better equips (United Nations Country Teams) to support national counterparts with the implementation and follow up on the outcome of the 2010 High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly MDGs.” (Source)

The duration of the Task Force should be time-bound and it should report directly to the UNDG. It’s priorities for 2010-2011, summarized below, are to:

• Develop guidance and evidence for consideration of any other methods and approaches that may benefit from a joint UNDG approach;
• Collaborate with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) to ensure provision of adequate support to the 30 roll-out countries in 2011, in particular on issues such as MDG monitoring;
• Help ensure that various ongoing MDG-related initiatives to support countries’ achievement of the MDGs in the context of inequality, marginalization and discrimination;
• Promote positive experiences and practices – through the country level operational focus of the UNDG
• At the fiend level design and propose effective ways to support UNCTs to identify, analyze and disseminate effective practice and major lessons  learned in development strategies for achieving the MDGs and other internationally-agreed development goals with a human rights based approach;

UN System Task Team to support the preparation of the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda

(UN DEVELOPMENT AGENDA, DRAFT CONCEPT NOTE 6 Jan 2012)

Following a request from the Secretary-General, Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP and Under-Secretary-General, and Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, are responsible for establishing a core group of dedicated senior technical experts to coordinate system-wide preparations on ongoing efforts and propose a unified vision and road map for the definition of a UN development agenda post-2015, in consultation with all stakeholders4.  The Task Team began its work in January 2012. Its terms of reference include:

• an assessment of ongoing efforts within the UN system;
• an assessment of initiatives taken by external stakeholders including the international financial institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector; and
• the development of a system-wide vision and road map for the post-2015 agenda.

The Task Team comprises focal points from all the UN agencies and programmes, the World  Bank. IMF and WTO. The Assistant Secretaries-General Jomo Kwame Sundaram (UNDESA) and Olav Kjørven (UNDP) serve as Co-Chairs.

The members of the Task Team will assume individual responsibilities for the preparation of the analytical inputs set out below. In addition Working Groups will be led by individual agencies with participation from others according to their mandates. These Working Groups will report directly to the Co-Chairs.

The Task Team is scheduled to prepare a report by May 2012 that will serve as input into the work of a High-Level Panel that will be appointed by the Secretary-General to advise him on the post-2015 development agenda. The Panel will be announced after the conclusion of the Rio+20 Conference.

Analytical inputs

The Task Team have been asked to investigate and make analytical inputs on the following six critical questions:

• Critical assessment of the MDG framework
• Identification of emerging development challenges
• Assess proposals and processes
• Assess how the post-2015 development agenda would relate to ongoing processes and area-specific development targets including:
  • processes relating to MDG 8;
  • specific commitments in relation to education, water and sanitation, food security, and child and  maternal mortality;
  • current debates (and agreements) related to “new challenges” eg slums and environmental sustainability (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Rio +20)
• Assessing how the global partnership for development should be broadened and strengthened vis-à-vis the “additional global challenges to be prioritized by the post-2015 development agenda and taking into account the discussions in Busan [on Effective Development Cooperation]”
• Assessing possible formats for the post-2015 global development agenda. 

Experts Group Meeting to support the advancement of the Post-2015 UN Agenda, New York 27-29 February 2012

A three-day Experts Group Meeting (EGM) to support the advancement of the Post-2015 UN Agenda was convened at the end of February 2012 to address five sets of questions, focusing on:

• overview of lessons learned from the MDG framework, in terms of both content and processes
• the role of a global development agenda vis-à-vis national development processes and in light of countries’ different levels of development and changing global scenarios;
• new rationales for the measurement of development outcomes and processes, including implications for the global partnership for development ;
• possible parameters and attributes of a post-2015 UN development agenda;
• alternative ways in which current development challenges and thematic areas not featured in the MDGs can be formally addressed in a post-2015 agenda. 

The 100 participants at the EGM included NGOs from Beyond 2015 and GCAP. It provided an opportunity for the UN focal points to meet to look at the lessons learned from the MDGs to a post-2015 UN development agenda; the role of a global development agenda vis-à-vis national development processes; new rationales for the measurement of development outcomes and processes in response to emerging global challenges; and possible formats for a post-2015 UN development agenda.

Other proposed activities for the creation of the post-2015 development framework

According to the Beyond2015 website, in addition to the High-Level Panel, which will be  appointed after Rio + 20  (see above), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is planning to organize National Consultations to stimulate the debate on the post-2015 development agenda May 2012 – January 2013. (Link)

NGOs and Civil Society actors interested in participating in these national consultations should contact their UN Country Teams in their own countries as soon as possible to see if they can be included in the consultations. 

Thematic consultations will also be convened from May 2012, involving academia, the media, the private sector, trade unions, civil society and decision-makers. Among the issues to be considered in these consultations is Health (including issues covered by MDGs 4, 5, 6, plus non-communicable diseases and population dynamics.

A web-portal will also be created by August 2012, which will allow open interaction and information exchange

The results of these activities will feed into the work of the High-Level Panel and the special event (see above) in 2013.

Important resource

Visit the Beyond 2015 website for up-to-date information on the MDGs Beyond 2015. Their resources include a very helpful Toolkit. Also visit the NGLS website, which will be a useful source of information as the process towards 2015 develops.

Notes:

 1 Keeping the Promise para 79

2 Keeping the Promise para 81

3 REF A/66/126, 11 July 2011 

4 Interoffice Memorandum No. 11-08757. 19 September 2011