NGOs Beyond 2014 - Articles

As reported by IIED, The President, Sam Kutesa of Uganda, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reflected on the achievements of the 69^th session of the General Assembly at its final meeting on 14 September. The highlights included the agreement on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), reform of the UN Security Council, and changes to the selection process for the next UN Secretary-General.

According to Kutesa. the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - the outcome document of the upcoming UN summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda, was a “landmark agreement” that was "without question, one of the major highlights" of the session. He referred to it as an "unprecedented collective undertaking" that yielded a "universal, inclusive and transformative future development framework.” He also said that the AAAA is the cornerstone of the global partnership for development, also stressing the need for a “bold and ambitious” agreement to be achieved at the Paris Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 21) in December 2015.

He also said that, ten years ago, leaders had expressed support for an early reform of the UN Security Council, and that they should work together to “muster the resolve to reform the Council it in a way that reflects the geo-political realities of our current world,” and that they should build on the work done during the 69^th session of the General Assembly. He also noted the agreement, reached on 11 September 2015, which will give a greater role to the Assembly in the upcoming election of the next UN Secretary-General. This will be, according to Kutesa, "an important step toward openness and transparency in the selection process."

The UN Secretary-General paid tribute to Sam Kutesa's leadership in guiding Member States "through many complex processes, resulting in a number of major advances." He also called the 2030 Agenda the "crowning accomplishment" of 69^th session, referring to it as the "product of an inspiring sense of solidarity," and noting the several rounds of intensive consultations including reaching common ground to agree on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. According to the Secretary-General, the Assembly had opened “the policy-making process in unprecedented ways to an unprecedented range of voices" during the post-2015 negotiations, which had established a new benchmark for global dialogue and inclusiveness. And he said that "there can be no going back." He also hoped that Member States would show the same vision, flexibility and solidarity in reaching a climate change agreement in Paris later in the year, and in bringing the SDGs to life in the years ahead.

Other key decisions throughout the year, according to the Secretary-General, included those on financing for development (FfD), combatting Ebola, and a new framework of procedural steps to guide the selection and appointment of the next UN Secretary-General.