Draft Programme for Joint Session between Post-2015 processes and FfD processes now available

The Co-facilitators for both the intergovernmental negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Ambassadors David Donoghue of Ireland and Macharia Kamau of Kenya, and the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD), Ambassadors George Talbot of Guyana and Geir O Pederson of Norway, have made available the draft programme for the joint session to be held in New York next week. 

The meeting will open on 21 April with a discussion of issues from the FfD negotiating session, followed by a discussion with the International Financial Institutions...

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Financing for Development Hearings (FfD) with Civil Society and Business Sector

As part of the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3), hearings with civil society and the business sector, hosted by the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly, with support from the Financing for Development Office (FFDO) and the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) were held on 8 April for the business sector and on 9 April for civil society.  The concept notes are now available.

Claudio Guedes Fernandes, shared ideas on innovative finance on behalf of Gestos and the Brazilian Association of NGOs (ABONG), as the national hub of the campaign Beyond 2015.

Upcoming Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development 2015 documents now available

Documents for the upcoming Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development 2015 are becoming available on on the ESCAP website. These include the Annotated Provisional Agenda (中文, English, Français, and русский) as well as the Tentative Programme (English only). 

(See: Call for participation: Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum on Sustainable Development )

Apply to speak at the 26-27 May 2015 United Nations General Assembly interactive hearings for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

As part of the process to define the post-2015 development agenda, the UN President of the General Assembly will organize two full days of hearings for stakeholders to participate in informal interactive dialogue with Member States on 26-27 May at UN Headquarters in New York.

By request of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, UN-NGLS will facilitate a stakeholder Steering Committee for the hearings, which will select the speakers from applications received through an open and transparent process.  

UN-NGLS invites stakeholders to apply to speak at these hearings here: http://bit.ly/p2015hearings-speaker-apply

Deadline: Monday, 27 April   

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If The Economist can get it wrong, others can too!

A letter from Marianne Haslegrave, Director, Commonwealth Medical Trust (Commat), in response to three articles of 28 March 2015 on The 169 commandments; unsustainable goals; and the good, the bad and the hideous, has been printed in the 11 April issue of The Economist.

The original letter was co-signed by 85 international and national organizations and networks and marks the beginning of a campaign to ensure that the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and targets, particularly those related to gender equality and women’s empowerment and related issues, are properly reported by the media.  

Please let us know immediately, by leaving a comment below, if you see reports in the press or in other media that misrepresent the post-2015 development agenda and SDGs on these important issues.

Every Woman Every Child: technical paper on adolescent health

We have received the following email from Noemi Espinoza Madrid, Civil Society Partnerships, ICPD Beyond 2014 Secretariat, UNFPA. Comments should be sent to pmnch@who.int up to 15 April, including your name, affiliation and email:

Dear Partners,

I am pleased to share with you the technical paper on adolescent health that is a part of the update of the UN Secretary-General's Global Strategy on Women and Children's Health "Every Woman Every Child".

UNFPA has made every effort to ensure that interventions to promote adolescents' sexual and reproductive health and rights are prioritized in this paper and hope that they will remain a priority. We would greatly appreciate your advocacy and support for this as this process gets streamlined.

Apply to speak at the 26-27 May 2015 United Nations General Assembly interactive hearings for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

We have received the following information from UN-NGLS:

As part of the process to define the post-2015 development agenda, the UN President of the General Assembly will organize two full days of hearings for stakeholders to participate in informal interactive dialogue with Member States on 26-27 May at UN Headquarters in New York.

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Provisional programme: 9 April UN General Assembly hearings with civil society in preparation for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development

We have received the following information from UN-NGLS:

On 8-9 April, the President of the UN General Assembly and the co-facilitators of the Financing for Development (FfD3) Conference process, Ambassador George Talbot of Guyana and Ambassador Geir Pedersen of Norway, will host informal interactive hearings between UN Member States and stakeholoders in preparation for the FfD3 Conference. Hearings with the business sector will be held on 8 April and hearings with civil society will be held on 9 April in Trusteeship Council Chamber at UN Headquarters. Each day will feature a high-level opening ceremony with representatives of both business and civil society.

These hearings will provide the first opportunity for a diversity of stakeholders to provide feedback on the zero draft of the outcome document for the FfD3 Conference. 

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Reminder – 6 April closing date for applications civil society speakers or selection committee

UN PGA's 4 May Debate on Strengthening Cooperation between UN & Regional & Subregional Organizations

You are reminded that 6 April is the closing date for applications for civil society speakers or selection committee for the UN President of the General Assembly’s 4 March 2015, High Level Thematic Dbate on Strengthening Cooperation between the UN and Regional and Subregional Organizations:

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Intergovernmental negotiations on Post-2015 – Day 5: April session and coordination with FfD and closing session

Ambassador Kamau introduced the proposal for the joint session for Financing for Development (FfD) and Post 2015 development agenda. The work of the FfD track in Addis in July must be a success, which means that its outcomes should be consistent with this process’s expectations and fit into its agenda. They must not be duplicative, as they are distinctly different with different timelines. The programme for the intergovernmental negotiations, 20-24th April with FfD was scheduled for the previous week. Their expectation and hope is that participants in the FfD will stay over the weekend and join the intergovernmental negotiations session. The Co-facilitators have had conversations with the co-facilitators Ambassadors from Guyana and Norway and are of the opinion they are all on the same page of moving forward.

The Co-facilitators need to hear from member states as to what they should focus on substantively at the next session. The zero draft of the FfD document has already been released. (See: Zero draft for Financing for Development Addis Ababa conference)  They also need to hear the views of Member States on the means of implementation (MOI) that have been conflated with FfD. It will be important to decide on the organization of work, based on the 4-day programme provided. In addition the Co-facilitators have received request from the President of ECOSOC to facilitate the participation of members of this Group in the ECOSOC/Bretton Woods system meeting on the 20 & 21 April. Monday therefore should be used for joint consultations/conversations with the meeting beginning on Tuesday, lasting for four, not five days. 

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