Beijing+20 regional review UNECE region

Preceding the official Regional Review of Beijing+20 meeting for the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), a civil society forum was held which adopted a Declaration and Recommendations. (They are attached but can also be found at beijing20.ngocsw-geneva.ch) The recommendations include both sexual and reproductive health and rights and comprehensive sexuality education

The official sessions, held on 6 and 7 November, focussed on closing the gender gap through social and economic policies, women in policy, women and justice, women and violence, and the closing session on ways forward. On the first day Nyardazayi Gumbonzvanda, the chair of the CSO Forum Beijing+20, presented the results of the forum during the opening session. Other speakers included the Crown Princess of Denmark. (Videos of the session can be found on the twitter account of UNECE and #Beijing20ECE.) During the meeting there was harldy any possibilities for interventions from the floor, but when it was possible, no CSOs asked for the floor.

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Helen Clark: Lecture on The Future We Want – Can We Make it a Reality?

Helen Clark, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) gave a lecture on “The Future We Want – Can We Make it a Reality?” in memory of the life and work of Dag Hammarskjold, the 2^nd UN Secretary General, who lost his life in a plane tragedy 50 years ago. 

Progress on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

In reflecting on the Millennium Development goals (MDGs) Helen Clark said that the Millennium Declaration painted a broad canvas and that on development, “the Declaration was specific, and its elements formed the basis of what were to become the MDGs.” 

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Linking post-2015 development agenda and financing for development

The Co-chairs for the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF), Mansur Muhtar and Pertti Majanen recently gave a briefing on their Report which has been before the UN General Assembly. 

As can be seen in the IISD Report below Mansur Muhtar referred to the need for a “sizable pool of resources” for the post-2015 development agenda and Pertti Majanen stressed that post-2015 plans focused on implementation at the national level. George Talbot, one of the co-facilitators for the International Conference on Financing for Development reflected on the Conference itself. 

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Accountability and the post-2015 development agenda – No 3

Discussions in General Assembly Second Committee

As reported by the IISD, on 31 October 2014 the UN General Assembly Second Committee (which discussed economic and financial issues) held a panel discussion on 'Promoting accountability at all levels: monitoring the post-2015 development agenda,' during which participants identifed principles for an accountability mechanism for the post-2015 development agenda, and opportunities for its design. 

It was chaired by Borg Tsien Tham (Singapore), Rapporteur of the Second Committee, who opened the discussion, saying that the UNGA has a "critical role" to play in providing policy guidance for strengthening a development accountability mechanism.

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Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform — adds post-2015 portal

The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has added a portal on the post-2015 process: 2015: Time for global action for people and planet.

There are two pages – a ‘description’ page and a page on ‘work streams’.

The ‘description’ page refers to the establishment of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, and its resulting proposal for 17 goals and 169 targets. It also notes the appointment of the Permanent Representatives of Kenya and Ireland as co-facilitators to lead consultations on the post-2015 development agenda up to the Summit in September. It states that the “post-2015 development agenda will address the need for a monitoring and accountability framework, as well as fleshing out a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development.”

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Consultations to continue on Post-2015 summit modalities

Ib Petersen, Permanent Representative of Denmark, and Robert Aisi, Permanent Representative of Papua New Guinea, have been re-appointed as co-facilitators to continue consultations to finalize the draft resolution on the organizational modalities for the UN summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda.

Petersen and Aisi co-facilitated consultations on the modalities during the 68th UNGA session, and submitted a draft resolution that constituted the basis for a consensus, per their letter of 12 September. It resolution was forwarded to UNGA 69 for action.

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Road map for Financing for Development preparatory process updated by co-facilitators

As reported by the IISD, the road map and programme of work for the preparatory process for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) have been updated by the co-facilitators, George Talbot (Guyana) and Geir Pederson (Norway), following consultations with Member States on 17 October 2014.

As stated in the new documents there will be three informal substantive sessions that will address: The Global Context (10 November); Mobilization and effective use of resources (11-13 November); and Enabling environment, systemic issues, follow-up process and learning from partnerships (9-12 December).

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Accountability and the post-2015 development agenda – No 2

As reported by the Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) in their update, the Regional Economic Commissions held consultations in August and September on a post-2015 accountability framework. These consultations will provide input into the Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report, which is expected later this year. 

Synthesis Report of the Regional Commission Consultations

The Synthesis Report of the Regional Commission Consultations “Towards an effective monitoring and accountability framework for the post-2015 development agenda: perspectives from the regions” builds on the regional consultations held in August and September: 

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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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