IEAG draft report available for comment until 10.00 (GMT+1) Monday 27 October

The draft report of the UN Secretary General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) on the data revolution for sustainable development is now available online and open for comments until Monday 27 October, 10.00 (GMT+1).

The group invites comments on any aspect of the report, but please note:

•  More specific comments, with reference to particular parts of the text, will be easier to take on board.  It will be easier, and therefore more likely, for them to make changes based on easily identifiable points and suggested language.
•  In the interests of speed the Group has put an unedited draft on line, so please forgive any errors of spelling and grammar.

Please visit the group’s page to download the report and for further information. 

IEAG Invites Comments on Data-Related Rights

As reported in the IIED Sustainable Development & Practice,  in a blog post two of the members of the UN Secretary-General's Independent Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development,  Carmen Barroso, Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Western Hemishere Region and Katell Le Goulven, Chief of Policy Planning, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have highlighted that the  consultations conducted by the Group have  indicated a shared concern for data-related rights. As they note, while data have the potential to empower people, there are privacy and accessibility implications that also need to be considered. 

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President of the General Assembly appoints Co-Facilitators for negotiations on post-2015 development agenda

HE Sam K Kutesa, President of the UN General Assembly, has written to UN Permanent Representatives to announce his appointment of David Donoghue, Permanent Representative of Ireland, and Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, as the co-facilitators "to lead open, inclusive, and transparent consultations on the post-2015 development agenda, including the organization and modalities for the intergovernmental negotiations and the remaining issues related to the Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda."

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Opportunity to engage with African Union Chairperson on Social Media on 20 October at 14.30 East Africa Time

HE Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,  will interact with African Citizens, civil society, development partners and diaspora on social media on  Monday, 20 October at 14.30  East African Time (GMT+3) on a live TweetChat under the theme #theafricawewant. The channel to post questions, comments and suggestions on this theme  is twitter hashtag #DGTrends.

It is part of the build up to the 2014 High Level Dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in Africa (DGTrends) scheduled for 30-31 October 2014 in Dakar, Senegal. The theme of the 2014 DGTrends is “Silencing the Guns: Strengthening Governance to Prevent, Manage and Resolve Conflicts in Africa”.

For further informaiton visit DGtrends.org.

Co-Facilitators for preparatory process of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development set out roadmap to Addis

The President of the UN General Assembly has appointed HE George Wilfred Talbot, Permanent Representative of Guyana and HE Geir O Pederson, Permanent Representative of Norway as Co-Facilitators for the preparatory process of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

The first informal meeting took place on Friday 17 October beginning the process leading up the third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 13 – 16 July 2015.

As set out in General Assembly resolution 68/279, there will be a maximum of eight working days substantive informal sessions on relevant thematic areas, plus two working days for informal interactive hearings with representatives

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Urgent information about ISRRC - Call for proposals: Small advocacy grants for CSOs in the Middle East and North Africa

We have received the following information about the recent call for proposals for the IPPF advocacy small grants facility in the Middle East and North Africa region:

Due to a technical problem with the IT system, all applications  and enquiries for the below call for proposal were not received by the songsfund@ippf.org inbox. 

If you applied or know of a colleague who did, please resend to songsfund@ippf.org, and CC Katie Lau (klau@ippf.org), by Wednesday 22nd October 2pm London time.

IPPF apologises for any inconvenience.

Related: ISRRC - Call for proposals: Small advocacy grants for CSOs in the Middle East and North Africa

High Level Panel Members call for seven actions for post-2015 negotiations

An open letter on priorities for the upcoming negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda has been issued by 18 of the 27 members of the UN Secretary-General's former High-level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, including two of its three Co-Chairs. 

The HLP report called for five "transformative shifts" to underpin the post-2015 development agenda

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OWG Co-Chairs reflect on sustainable development

As reported in the IISD Sustainable Development Policy and Practice, the Co-Chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflected on the OWG's work and its proposed goals and targets at an event hosted by the Women's International Forum, which was sponsored by the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General.

Csaba Kőrösi, Permanent Representative of Hungary, and Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, spoke of the possibility of a more sustainable future under the theme 'Humanity at a Crossroad: How to Shape a New Sustainable Development Trajectory.' 

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Public consultation on the data revolution for sustainable development – deadline 15 October 2015

To solicit input from civil society, particularly academia, the Independent Expert Advisory Group is hosting a public consultation on its Data Revolution Group website. The deadline for the consultation is 15 October 2015. 

Despite the short notice you are encouraged to submit your ideas and suggestions. Below are links to the four areas for inputs:

Accessible Data – open data, accountability and data literacy 

Sustainable Development Goals – measuring progress on new indicators and for all groups 

Data Innovation – big data and new technologies

Data Landscape – addressing systemic challenges

Independent Expert Group on a data revolution for sustainable development – civil society outreach day

The Independent Expert Advisory Group (IEAG) held a ‘town hall event’ on 26 September, as well as in-depth sessions centered around specific topics of the data revolution with members of civil society, academia and the private sector. These served as a “listening session” for IEAG members, with representatives from over 60 civil society organizations in attendance. 

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