(Based on IISD highlights)
At the opening of the first informal meeting of the plenary of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, on Tuesday, 17 February 2015, Co-Facilitator Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, said that the “business of the week” was to discuss ways to break with the past by crafting a Declaration that focused on the future.
Co-facilitator David Donoghue, Permanent Representative of Ireland, recalled that while the stocktaking session in January had reviewed the entire agenda for the negotiating process, this session would enable more detailed exchanges on the content, tone, and ambition of the Declaration.
They both stressed that the ‘elements’ paper (See: http://ngosbeyond2014.org/articles/2015/2/10/co-facilitators-share-elements-document-for-declaration-comp.html) was intended to stimulate and guide debate, and was not intended as a definitive product.
Both groups and delegations took the floor to welcome aspects of the elements paper, propose changes and additions, and articulate their visions for the post-2015 development agenda. In addition to the Group of 77 and China and the various regional groups, there were statements from a number of ‘thematic’ (cross-regional) groups, such as the Group of Friends of Culture and the Friends of the Rule of Law.
The exchange of general statements on the Declaration was completed in the morning session on the second day. During the session, the delegate for Suriname made a strong statement on the Centrality of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, on behalf of his own and 44 other countries. It called for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls to be at the centre of the Declaration and stated that if the post-2015 development agenda is to be truly transformative, it must transform the lives of women and girls and actively pursue gender equality. Human rights must be respected. However, women and girls are disproportionally and systematically deprived of their rights. Men and women, boys and girls should be educated to overcome these injustices. (For full statement see: http://bit.ly/sd_declaration)
The afternoon session of the second day began with a briefing from Stefan Schweinfest, Director of the UN Statistics Division, on the ongoing work to develop indicators for the post-2015 development agenda. (This will be discussed in the next NGOs Beyond 2014 posting.)
On the relationship between the post-2015 development agenda negotiations and preparations for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3), the co-facilitators proposed that the 20 April - 1 May post-2015 session would take up financial issues in the context of the SDGs, following “seamlessly” from the second drafting session for FfD 3.
Nikhil Seth, Division for Sustainable Development, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), briefed participants on non-governmental stakeholders’ engagement in the process in advance of the interactive dialogue between stakeholders and Member States the following morning. At the end of the session the co-facilitators announced that they would be circulating a ‘discussion document’ (See: http://bit.ly/sd_dec_feb) to help advance the conversation on the Declaration, after the interactive session.
On the third morning the co-facilitators chaired an interactive dialogue between Major Groups, other stakeholders and Member States. The discussion, with planned interventions by civil society representatives as well as several governments, covered each section of the draft declaration as outlined in the Elements Paper, namely:
Issues highlighted included how to ensure development justice; differences of opinion over the appropriateness of “leaving no one behind;” addressing indigenous rights through the indicator framework; information poverty; financial inclusion; the need for the Declaration to provide a framework of elements; and the importance of the scientific community in ensuring the enduring legitimacy of the SDG framework. In total there were four interventions that focused on gender equality, which have been posted on this website. (See: Statement by Kiyomi Nagumo, WECAN on Violence against Women, Women full decision making, Climate and indigenous peoples, INTERVENTION FROM THE WOMEN'S MAJOR GROUP (WMG) Section on “Follow up and Review” Post-2015, Statement delivered by Eni Lestari on behalf of the Asia Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (RCEM) and the International Migrants Alliance, and Intervention during General Assembly Informal Negotiations on Post-2015 Declaration, Thursday 19 February)
The discussion on the new document began with some statements from countries on the Thursday afternoon and continued after a delayed start to allow for further consultation on the Friday. In the closing session, Co-Facilitator David Donoghue said the document had succeeded in drawing delegates into a clearer and sharper debate on the contents of the Declaration. The debate indicated where convergence seemed possible, and where it is less likely.
At the March session of the intergovernmental negotiations, which will focus on the SDGs and targets, there will be a presentation on indicators, debate and discussion, based on input following the 46th session of the Statistical Commission, dialogue with stakeholders, and a discussion of the April session, which will take up Means of Implementation and Global Partnership.