Where we are with the inter-governmental negotiations at the beginning of May 2015

Following the joint FfD3 and post-2015 session, now is probably a good time to reflect on the inter-governmental negotiations (IGN) so far and some of the key issues will need to be resolved when the negotiations proper take place in June and July.  

First three IGN sessions

The Stock-take session in January, followed by the IGN on the Declaration in February; the March session on goals, targets and indicators; and the joint session in April have raised a number of issues that are crucially important for the success of the post-2015 development agenda. Arising out of the discussions in February, it is unclear what sort of document the Declaration will be. While there was a call for a document that is transformative and aspirational and there were calls for a short, it could still be much longer. It is important, therefore, that civil society organizations keep in mind what they think should be included whether it is long or short. 

As far as the goals and targets are concerned, the Co-facilitators should be soon releasing the re-draft of their document on the targets that need ‘tweaking’. This will include those with ‘x’s which need to be removed. It may also include targets that fall below internationally agreed standards and possibly others. There seemed to be some support for the suggestion from Australia that targets that might need ‘fixing’ should be looked at by the IGN and if there’s agreement to carry out the necessary tweaks, but if there is no agreement to revert to the language as included in the OWG report. The process for dealing with the indicators was agreed at the same time as the goals and targets were considered. The Inter-Agency and Expert Group which comprises 27 countries as core members will meet in early June. See: Next steps on Indicators, based on briefing for NGOs by Stephan Schweinfest, Director of UN Statistics Division

Fourth / joint IGN session

During the joint session with FfD3 in April, while delegates welcomed the presence of all four Co-Facilitators and the opportunity to address the linkages between the two parallel processes, different interpretations of the relationship between the two processes emerged. Many developed countries, for example, wanted the outcome of the FfD3 process to represent an agreement on the means of implementation (MOI) of the post-2015 agenda, and for the FfD3 document, as adopted in Addis Ababa in July, to be incorporated in its entirety as the post-2015 agenda’s MOI pillar. On the other hand, many developing countries preferred not to make a decision at this point as to how the FfD3 text would relate to the post-2015 agenda outcome document.  There was also concern that the developed countries’ proposal entailed removing SDG 17 on MOI and possibly other MOI-related targets from the proposed SDGs. South Africa, on behalf of the G-77 and China, insisted “the two processes should be retained as two separate tracks, as the scope of FfD3 goes beyond implementing the SDGs, while the MOI for the post-2015 agenda should go beyond FfD3.”  For many there was a lack of clarity at the end of the four-day meeting as to how this difficult cluster of issues would be resolved in the time remaining before FfD3 begins in Addis. 

One issue discussed during the session was what was meant by “The Global Partnership,” as opposed to “global partnerships.” Canada offered definitions for these two concepts, describing the first as an underlying principle of solidarity and the second as the multi- stakeholder efforts necessary to achieve the goals. In reply the developing countries suggested a different approach, stressing that North-South cooperation and commitments should be central to the Global Partnership concept. 

On the inclusion of civil society and the private sector in the implementation of the agenda will be crucial, Finland stated that “we cannot expect them to participate in an agenda they did not help develop.” Germany, on the other hand, proposed a monitoring framework rooted in the concept of a renewed global partnership, in which stakeholders participate with commitments of their own and help with collecting data, and the G-77/China stressed the importance of monitoring frameworks to monitor commitments on ODA, technology transfer and capacity building. 

In the discussion of a technology facilitation mechanism (TFM) (See: Post-2015 joint FfD and post-2015 session, 21-24 April — No 6: Technology facilitation mechanism and other science, technology and innovation issues) to be created through the post-2015 process, developed countries continued to favour existing initiatives and broader efforts on science, technology and innovation. Brazil and India, on the other hand, stated that deciding on the mandate and form of a TFM could be a key deliverable of the post-2015 agenda. 

Following on from the discussions on financing during the meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions, delegates were informed that funding must increase from “billions to trillions,” in order to achieve the SDGs as currently proposed, thereby reinforcing the recognition of the inter-linkages between the FfD3 and post-2015 development agendas. (See: Post-2015 joint FfD and post-2015 session, 21-24 April -- No5: Discussion with International Financial Institutions) Northern governments characterized the landscape as being different from the Doha Conference in 2008, saying that there is no longer the same divide between developed and developing countries, which dilutes commitment to overseas development assistance (ODA) and differentiated responsibilities. This could provide an opportunity for an increased role for the private sector to become a key player.

Fifth IGN session on follow-up and review

Against this background the fifth IGN session on follow-up and review will be held 18-22 May. This will be the final session before the negotiations themselves begin in June on the zero draft of the outcome document that will be made available at the end of May.

For full report on the fourth / joint IGN session see http://www.iisd.ca/download/pdf/enb3217e.pdf