Detailed notes on UN Statistical Commission IAEG – SDGs, 1-2 June 2015

Stefan Schweinfest, Director UN Statistical Division (UNSD), in opening the meeting said that the Group’s creativity was needed to figure out the problems.

Mr Wu Hongbo, United Nations Secretary-General, for Economic and Social Affairs welcomed everyone to the Interagency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals (IAEG on SDGs), operating under the Statistical Commission (UNSD). He noted that14 years ago the IAEG / MDGs met to start developing MDGs monitoring framework and to galvanize targeted interventions. Now the IAEG on SDGs should build on its success and experiences. They must consider the challenge ahead. Member States and the Open Working Group proposed 17 goals and 169 targets. The post-2015 agenda will be universal, addressing the needs of and seeking contributions from people across the planet. including social inclusion,  and should be relevant to all countries...

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Provide feedback on the zero draft of the outcome document for the UN Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda

We have received the following email from Susan Alzner, NGLS 

Dear Colleagues,

On 2 June 2015, the zero draft was released of the outcome document for the UN Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It is available here. 

The draft outcome document will be the subject of intergovernmental negotiations at the UN from 22-25 June, 20-24 July and 27-31 July...

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Zero draft of outcome document now available

The zero draft of the outcome document of the UN Summit on Post 2015 in September has been released. It will be discussed during the forthcoming session of the intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) on June 22-25th.  

It is entitled Transforming our World by 2030 — A new Agenda for Global Action and comprises the four components of the Agenda: an opening Declaration; the Sustainable Development Goals and targets; Means of implementation and the Global Partnership; and Follow-up and Review. 

It also includes three annexes. The first is the paper of the Co-facilitators proposing revisions to 21 of the 169 targets, which they strongly recommend to member states. The second is the ‘food for thought paper’ on a possible Technological Facilitation Mechanism and the third, for reference, is the ‘Introduction of the Open Working Group Proposal for Sustainable development goals and targets’.

Co-facilitator post letter on themes of interactive dialogues for post-2015 Summit

Following our posting on 27 May (see: Post-2015 development agenda session on follow-up and review, 18-22 May No 14: Thematic dialogues), a letter from the post-2015 co-facilitators containing the themes for the six interactive dialogues to be held during the post-2015 Summit has been posted.

The modalities for how these six interactive dialogues will be organized are outlined in General Assembly resolution 69/244 (annex II) (see: http://undocs.org/A/69/L.43). 

TST – Selected Follow-up and Review Processes and Platforms: An illustrative, non-exhaustive compilation – ICPD Beyond 2014 Monitoring Framework cited

At the end of the 5^th session of intergovernmental negotiations, the UN Technical Support Team released a list of existing mechanisms that could be used for follow-up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to support discussions on the post-2015 development agenda. The document, which is entitled ‘TST – Selected Follow-up and Review Processes and Platforms: An illustrative, non-exhaustive compilation,' includes potential review mechanisms which could address cross-cutting issues.

They include, for example, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), UN Statistical Commission, the UN Commission on Population and Development, UN Human Rights Council, and the UN regional commissions...

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High-level Political Forum: next meeting 26 June to 8 July, further information

Following up on posting on the next meeting of the High-level Political Forum, (See: High-level Political Forum: next meeting 26 June to 8 July 2015), the integrated programme for session to be held under the auspices of ECOSOC (26 June-8 July) and the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review (9-10 July) is now available.

Nominations for HLPF round table lead discussants are being requested by the  ECOSOC President would like to include lead discussants from the nine major groups and other stakeholders in the various round tables that will be organised during the HLPF.  See attached invitation for nominations for these lead discussants as well as attached a nomination form. The deadline for submitting nominations is Monday, 1 June...

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Post-2015 development agenda session on follow-up and review, 18-22 May No 15: Goals, targets and indicators

(based on IISD Reporting Services report)

Goals, targets and indicators 

On the morning of Thursday 21 May, Ambassador Kamau introduced the “Revised Targets Document” from the Co-Facilitators. (See: Post-2015: revised proposal for the themes of the six interactive dialogues to be held during the post-2015 Summit) The tweaking of the targets had been based on two criteria: to replace the ‘x’s in the OWG’s report with text or values, for which there had seemed to be “a measure of comfort” from what delegates had said during the March session; and to ensure consistency with existing international agreements...

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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”...

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Post-2015 development agenda session on follow-up and review, 18-22 May No 13: Civil society participation in the IGN going forward

Civil society has been engaged in the intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) since the beginning of the year through the interactive dialogues with civil society at each session. At the beginning of the interactive dialogue on Wednesday 20 May, Ambassador Kamau, speaking on behalf of both Co-facilitators, welcomed the positive engaged with civil society, also noting that some had expressed concerns that the representation in speaking had not been as balanced as it should be. This was something that they had tried to address. 

He said that the Co-facilitators were aware that some concerns have been expressed about access and that they wished to reassure civil society that they will continue to champion their access to these meetings, even at those points that might be sensitive and difficult...

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Post-2015 development agenda session on follow-up and review, 18-22 May – No 12: TST — Selected Follow-up and Review Processes and Platforms

The TST has completed its document on follow-up and review processes and platforms. 

It should be noted that  it includes the Commission on Population and Development (page 3) and also the ICPD Beyond 2014 Monitoring Framework under Goal 3 (page 9)

Under Goal 5 , the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, other Human Rights  Treat bodies and the Universal Periodic Review are cited in addition to the Commission on the Status of Women (pages 12 & 13)