UN General Debate Continues Addressing Post-2015 Agenda on Day 4

27 September 2014: At the 69th UN General Assembly (UNGA) General Debate, Heads of State and Government continued their discussion of the post-2015 development agenda alongside consideration of a range of other issues.

Several countries described national efforts on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including Sheikh, Prime Minister, Bangladesh, and Enele Sosene Sopoga, Prime Minister, Tuvalu. Zarar Ahmad Osmani, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan, said it began working toward the MDGs in 2005 and is committed to achieving most of the Goals by 2020, while also planning to synchronize its efforts with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Oldemiro Marques Balói, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Mozambique, supported guaranteeing the sustainability of MDGs already achieved, and accelerating implementation on those lagging behind. Ri Su Yong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Democratic Republic of Korea, said the post-2015 agenda should consolidate MDG successes. Prosper Bazombanza, Vice President, Burundi, recommended building on progress to define post-2015 objectives.

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UNGA General Debate 2014 Continues Focus on MDGs, Post-2015 Agenda, SIDS

29 September 2014: As the 69th UN General Assembly's (UNGA) General Debate entered its second week, speakers continued to reflect on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and outline their priorities for the post-2015 development agenda, including gender equality and women's empowerment, peace and security, and oceans. Small island developing States (SIDS) and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) highlighted particular challenges and vulnerabilities, with some also addressing the challenge of graduation from least developed country (LDC) status.

Several speakers described their countries' progress toward achieving the MDGs, including Jean-Paul Adam, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seychelles, Phandu Skelemani, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Botswana, Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lesotho, and Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bahrain. With much remaining to be done, said Albert del Rosario, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Philippines, the country has strengthened data collection and analysis as a tool for measuring MDG progress and supporting decision-making.

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69th General Debate Addresses Post-2015, Countries in Special Situations

26 September 2014: Speaking during the General Debate of the 69th UN General Assembly's (UNGA) on its third day, Heads of State and Government continued highlighting their priorities for the post-2015 development agenda, including on countries in special situations. Speakers also discussed global challenges such as security, terrorism, UN reform, climate change and sustainable energy.

Many speakers described their countries' progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including Namibia, El Salvador, Haiti, Dominica, the Comoros, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Uzbekistan, and Trinidad and Tobago.

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29th Special Session of the UN General Assembly on ICPD Beyond 2014

The 29^th Special Session of the UN General Assembly on ICPD Beyond 2014 took place on Monday 22 September 2014. The main item on the agenda was the “Follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population Development beyond 2014.”

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said in opening the meeting, "As we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Cairo Conference and look ahead to the future, we cannot afford to short-change development," He noted that some 800 women still died each day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and an estimated 8.7 million young women in developing countries resorted to unsafe abortions every year. Millions of people, particularly in the world’s poorest countries, also still suffered from poverty, hunger, unemployment, low life expectancy and scant access to health care and education.

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

IPPF small grants facility: Call for Proposals  

2014 marks the twentieth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). 2015 is the year the successor to the Millennium Development Goals will be negotiated and adopted. The outcome of these processes will greatly impact future Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) policy, funding and programming priorities at global level and at national level.  

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69 UNGA Side-Event — Sexual and reproductive health and rights: global development, health and human rights priority

Date: 25 September 2014
Time: 08.30-10.00
Venue: UN Conference Room: CR-C

As world leaders deliberate on the new international development agenda, this session will reflect on progress made in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and address the challenges which remain for a comprehensive and integrated approach to SRHR in the future.

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The International Planned Parenthood Federation at the United Nations General Assembly Week.

As the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly gets underway IPPF is calling for world leaders to put sexual and reproductive health and rights at the heart of the next generation of development goals.

This is a key moment and we wanted to share with you some of the events that IPPF will be involved with other the next few days. 

Highlights include

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IPCI Side Event at UNGA: Implementing the promise of the Stockholm Declaration

Over 100 parliamentarians, government ministers, representatives of diplomatic missions and civil society members attended a side event on the outcome of the 2014 International Parliamentarians’ Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD (IPCI). The event took place on the eve of the UNGA Special Session On The Follow-Up To The Programme Of Action Of The ICPD Beyond 2014.

At IPCI 2014, held in Stockholm from 23 to 25 April, parliamentarians from 134 countries agreed a Statement of Commitment (SoC) representing their strongest call ever to implement the ICPD Programme of Action.

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Women’s Major Group 2014 Response to the Report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (Final Draft, 8 August 2014)

The Women’s Major Group (WMG) has released its response to the Report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (Final Draft, 8 August 2014). 

The WMG welcomes the Committee’s recognition that its work must be founded on key Rio principles, including human rights, gender equality, and common but differentiated responsibilities, and that the principle of country ownership is also a basic precept in its work. However, members are concerned that the Committee has not sufficiently integrated these principles into its analysis and recommendations, and that it ultimately does not do enough to challenge a model of development that perpetuates inequalities between rich and poor, men and women, and between developed and developing countries...

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Address by South Africa’s Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, MP, on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly on the commission on population and development

Ms Bathabile Dlamini, speaking as South Africa’s Minister of Social Development, gave a strong presentation at a meeting of the commission on population and development on harnessing the demographic dividend and ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health at the UN in New York. In the context of the Addis Ababa Declaration, she discussed sexual and reproductive health and rights, reproductive justice and the links between human rights and development.

The Minister reaffirmed her government’s  position in relation to population and development, saying  “The South African Population Policy, in accordance with the South African Constitution and guided by the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD), emphasises the attainment of sustainable development and places people at the centre of that development. Development is seen as a process of enlarging people’s capabilities and ensuring that they enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. This is based on an approach that fundamental human rights and sustainable development cannot be separated if we are to improve the lives of people.”

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