Post-2015 development agenda session on follow-up and review, 18-22 May No 14: Thematic dialogues

The revised themes for the thematic dialogues was introduced on Thursday. During the discussions Egypt and other countries, particularly from the Arab Region voiced their objections to the inclusion of “vulnerable groups” under the theme Tackling inequalities, empowering women and girls and leaving no-one behind. They would accept the use of “people in vulnerable situations”. 

Ambassador Kamau, Co-facilitator, responded in saying that the term was “Rio+20 language” but no agreement could be reached on this matter by Thursday afternoon. It was then raised again on Friday morning, when Egypt said that they also accept the use of the term “the vulnerable”.  Ambassador Kamau then said that the problem appeared to be with the word “groups” and referred the matter back for further negotiation before the end of the session. Given the fact that there was no agreement on either of the proposals, during the afternoon the issue was resolved by an agreement, introduced by Ambassador Donoghue, that the Co-facilitators would write to the President of the General Assembly with only a list of the six themes: 

• Ending poverty and hunger; 
• Tackling inequalities, empowering women and girls and leaving no one behind; 
• Fostering sustainable economic growth, transformation and promoting sustainable consumption and production; 
• Protecting our planet and combating climate change; 
• Building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions to achieve sustainable development; and 
• Delivering on a revitalized Global Partnership. 

The full list, as set out in rev 3, would be circulated with a covering letter to Member States by the Co-facilitators, emphasizing that it has no formal or legal status and does not set any precedents. As Ambassador Donoghue the stated, Heads of State and Government will raise whatever issues they wish during the dialogues at the Summit.

For those civil society organizations that work with “vulnerable groups”, it should be noted that this term is unlikely to be included in the post-2015 development agenda. The Open Working Group Report talks about people “in vulnerable situations” and also “the vulnerable”. It does not include “vulnerable groups”.