Briefing for Governments on work of the High Level Panel

On Monday 22 April the General Assembly was briefed on the work of the Secretary General’s High Level Panel (HLP) following the two previous briefings that had been given on the New York and London sessions of the HLP. The focus of this meeting was the 3^rd (Monrovia) and 4^th (Bali) sessions.

The Special Envoy of H E Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, spoke on the HLP meeting in Bali. It was the fourth HLP meeting and part of the process moving forward from NY, London and Monrovia. The topic for discussion in Bali discussed focused on global partnerships and means of implementation for the development agenda. He drew attention to the opportunities for consultation and outreach on the first day of their meeting to CSOs, youth, women, parliamentarians etc, followed by the meeting of the HLP on the 2^nd day and the meeting with the co-chairs on the 3^rd day and the Bali Communiqué.

In their Communiqué the HLP committed themselves to an open, transparent and inclusive process and called for reshaped and revitalized global governance and partnerships; protection of the global environment; sustainable production and a renewed Global Partnership that enables a transformative, people-centred and planet-sensitive development, promoting sustainable production and consumption, given the challenge of the predicted peak of human population to 9-10 billion in 2050; strengthened means of implementation and data availability and better accountability in measuring process.

Abdoulaye Dukule, the Special Envoy of Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia referred to the willingness of the HLP to listen to CSO, academicians and to gather their views for inclusion in the process. The challenge before the HLP was now to take the evidence and ‘add value’. The Monrovia meeting followed on from the London meeting at which key social development issues including inequalities, basic education and health services had all been discussed in the context of household poverty. It focused on higher productivity and equity for all people and growth at local, national etc levels under the theme of National Building Blocks for Sustained Prosperity.

Six weeks remain for writing, editing and polishing the Report of the Panel. The HLP has developed a structure and list of priorities. In addition to asking how the panel can merge all the priorities into framework, he posed the question as to how bold and realistic can the panel be?

Michael Anderson, the Special Envoy of David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, thanked the President and Government of Indonesia for their high level of commitment, which enabled the meeting in Bali to consider outlines and themes of the report. While the main themes and exact structure of the report were now being discussed, it was envisaged that there be major sections on what had been learned, challenges that had been identified and priorities for global action. It was planned to include examples of possible goals and targets, as well as the spirit and ambition of the MDGs and the unfinished business that they represent. Poverty reduction should be a first priority insofar as 1 billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day. At the same time there was a need to be relevant to challenges of 2015, as well as those of 2030. More emphasis should be placed on women’s rights and gender equity. Other issues that should be addressed include disaster and risk reduction and reducing conflict and corruption. So far the HLP had not decided how to include them into the framework. He also referred to the need to address MDG 8 and for overseas development assistance (ODA) as a vital source of funding. However, ODA alone will not be enough: other sources of financing should be considered, including private investment. Accountability was also important and in developing a single and coherent framework choices will have to be made, which would require prioritization.

Amelia Peres, a member of the HLP and the Minister of Finance of Timor Leste, remarked on those MDGs that had been left behind. She said that countries could not achieve them as they didn’t have the necessary tools to do so. Ownership was important. Also countries couldn’t measure the progress they had made. The next set of global goals could only be achieved through partnerships and in this South-South cooperation was important.

Amina J. Mohammed noted the importance of the presence of the President of General Assembly in Bali. She reflected on issues of concern including on-going job crises, inequality and human rights that affect women and girls. She called for fundamental and transformative change.

In closing the session, the President of the General Assembly noted that the President of Indonesia would address a special meeting of the General Assembly on May 30 on the report of the HLP. He referred to the need to bring together the different streams of negotiations as soon as possible in moving forward. There was he said a sense of urgency in this matter.