Speakers selected for 21 April UN PGA's High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the SDGs

We have received the following from UN-NGLS:

President of the United Nations General Assembly's High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

21 April 2016 

Civil Society and Academia Speakers Selected

On Thursday, 21 April 2016 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the President of the UN General Assembly H.E. Mogens Lykketoft will convene a High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to support prompt and inclusive implementation of the 2030 Agenda...

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2030 Agenda and the SDGs: indicator framework, monitoring and reporting

The Global Policy Watch has issued Briefing #10: 2030 Agenda and the SDGs: indicator framework, monitoring and reporting, written by Barbara Adams and Karen Judd. It provides a clear analysis of the Global Indicator Framework.

It assesses those 80 indicators that were marked with an asterisk in the report of the inter-Agency and Expert Group (IAEG) on SDGs as lacking agreement or needing further development. Ten indicators were added; five were deleted, and eight flagged for alignment with the Sendai framework, which is due later this year. According to Adams and Judd the “revisions include a mix, some positive, others alarming."

Registration for the High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Implementation of SDGs

Please see following information received from Lotta Tähtinen | Stakeholder Engagement Programme Coordinator, Division for Sustainable Development | DESA:

Registration for the High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  

21 April 2016 

United Nations Headquarters, NY 

Deadline: APPLY BY 5:00 PM EST ON 28 MARCH 2016 

The President of the United Nations General Assembly will convene, on 21 April 2016, a High-level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  The event will bring together political, business and civil society leaders to focus on kick-starting SDGs implementation.

The event will emphasize the following five focus areas, with cross-cutting themes of gender equality and capacity building: 

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General Assembly meeting on Secretary-General’s report for follow-up and review of 2030 Agenda

An informal meeting of the General Assembly was held on the report of the Secretary-General outlining milestones and way forward towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as included in the letters from the President of the General Assembly, dated 14 March and 3 March (See: 2030 Agenda: next steps on report of the Secretary-General and GA President appoints Co-facilitators for next steps on follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda)

As one of the two co-facilitators, Ambassador Ib Petersen of Denmark welcomed everyone, including Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in UN DESA. As Ambassador Petersen pointed out in September the General Assembly adopted a “truly remarkable agreement”, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in which paragraph 90 requires the UN Secretary-General to outline “critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level.”...

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HLPF Theme “Ensuring that no one is left behind”

We have received the following from DESA:

As you may be aware, the ECOSOC at its meeting today adopted a number of decisions that may be of interest to you: 

• In accordance with decision E/2016/L.11, the theme for the 2016 HLPF will be "Ensuring that no one is left behind";
• The ECOSOC FfD Forum will be held from 18-20 April 2016 on the theme of "Financing for sustainable development: follow-up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda”. The co-chairs of the FfD forum are the Permanent Representatives of Benin and Croatia;
• In accordance with decision E/2016/L.12, the theme of the 2016 ECOSOC thematic discussion, to be held during the ECOSOC high-level segment, will be “Infrastructure for sustainable development for all".

2030 Agenda: next steps on report of the Secretary-General

The co-facilitators (the Ambassadors of Belize and Denmark) for the process to take decisions on the most critical issues addressed in the report of the Secretary-General have circulated a letter saying that they will hold an informal consultation of the General Assembly on Thursday, 17 March, at 4 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, to discuss a road map for the process. 

The Secretary-General's report and related background information can be accessed at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/follow-up  

See also: GA President appoints Co-facilitators for next steps on follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda and Further comments on consultations on next steps on follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda

Statistical Commission adopts decision on indicators for 2030 Agenda

The Statistical Commission adopted Decision 1: Data and indicators for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Item 3a) on the Global indicator framework for the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is in line with its procedures by which it mainly adopts decisions rather than resolutions. 

In the decision, the Commission expressed its appreciation to the IAEG-SDGs and supported its report, commending the Group for its “country-led, open, inclusive and transparent process”. The IAEG-SDGs is asked to continue its work with its terms of reference as included in annex 1 of the report. The proposed global indicator framework, as set out in annex 4, is “a practical starting point”...

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Further comments on consultations on next steps on follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda

In looking at the consultations to be facilitated by Ambassadors Lois M Young of Belize and Ib Petersen of Denmark, it should be remembered that the theme for the next meeting of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) has not yet been adopted, although there is a strong consensus in favour of “ensuring that no one is left behind”.

In addition to Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, there will also be discussions on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, pending a formal agreement...

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ECOSOC e-Discussion: Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

2016 ECOSOC e-Discussion Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 29 February to 25 March 2016 

You are cordially invited join the 2016 ECOSOC e-Discussion at: https://www.unteamworks.org/ECOSOC-2016 

Stakeholders, experts, practitioners and policy-makers from all over the world are invited to engage in a global dialogue on specific aspects of the 2016 ECOSOC theme of "Implementing the post-2015 developmentagenda: moving from commitments to results". The 2016 e-Discussion will provide the Economic and Social Council with suggestions and recommendations on how to best address implementation challenges of the new Agenda, with a special focus on the national level...

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GA President appoints Co-facilitators for next steps on follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda

The President of the General Assembly has written a letter appointing Ambassador Lois M Young of Belize and Ambassador Ib Petersen of Denmark as co-facilitators for the informal consultations to take decisions, based on the report of the UN Secretary General on the “milestones and way forward towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level.”

The decisions to be taken as a result of the informal consultations should include the “multi-year programme of work for the high-level political forum.” These consultations will be important for civil society organizations, as the report included suggestions as to how they should be involved in the process for reporting to the High-level Political Forum.