Ambassador of South Africa delivers statement in the Open Working Group on behalf of 58 Member States on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the SDGs and post-2015 development agenda

Joint Statement to the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
13^th Session, July 14-18, 2014 – United Nations, New York

Delivered by H.E. Ambassador Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa on behalf of the following countries: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu.

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Open Working Group revised proposed goals and targets 4 to11

The proposed goals and targets 4 to 11 revised after informal informal discussions last week are attached. They, together with those already circulated and for goals 12 to 17 yet to come once the first round of negotiations is completed, will form the basis for the last round of discussions on the goals and targets before the Co-Chairs finalize their report. This will go to the President of the General Assembly and also the UN Secretary-General for inclusion in his Synthesis Report... 

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Strong civil society recommendation on Goal 3: Attain healthy lives for all at all ages

Non-governmental organziations working on health issues from a variety of different perspectives have come together to make a strong statement on Goal 3: Attain healthy lives for all at all ages. It includes recommendations on such important areas as communicable and non-communicable diseases, universal health coverage and anti-microbial resistance. In addition it strongly supports a strong statement for a separate target (3.1 bis) under goal 3:...

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UN Secretary-General’s MDG Report for 2014 emphasizes need for “bolder and focused action" on child and maternal mortality

The UN Secretary-General’s Millennium Development Goals Report 2014  is now available. It notes the progress that has been made in areas such as halving global poverty; 90% of children in developing regions being enrolled in primary education with a narrowing of disparities between boys and girls; gains in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis; and the meeting of the target of halving the proportion of people who lack access to improved sources of water. Nevertheless, more progress is needed to address child mortality and much more needs to be done to reduce maternal mortality... 

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Open Working Group – proposed revised goals 1-3

The proposed revised goals, as worked on in the informal meetings of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development during the past two days, are now available.

Sexual and reproductive health has been added to target 1 “3.1 by 2030 reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, including through access to sexual and reproductive health”...

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UN General Assembly President releases concept note on post-2015 stocktaking event

The Office of the President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has released a concept note for the High-level Stocktaking Event on the post-2015 development agenda, which will take place at the UN, 8-9 September 2014. 

According to the note, participants will have the opportunity to: 

1. Reflect on the key messages from all the high-level events/ thematic debates, and interactive dialogue/briefing, convened by the President of the General Assembly
2. Discuss the outcomes of the various Rio+20 processes including the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG), the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF), the Structured Dialogues on a Technology Facilitation Mechanism and the updates on the High-Level Political Forum

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World We Want 2015 consultation on culture and development

The following letter has been received from UNFPA about the culture and development consultation which is taking place on the World We Want 2015 website:

​Dear Colleagues

Greetings to you all. UNFPA, along with UNESCO and UNDP, is co-leading the Culture and Development consultation, one of six dialogues on implementation of the evolving Post-2015 development agenda which will follow the MDGs (Millenium Development Goals). It is a second phase of consultations, following the global, national and online thematic consultations held in 2012-13. 

On themes of how culture relates to development, we are hosting e-discussions and putting out a call for papers on best practices (links below). Themes range from poverty reduction to gender equality, urbanization and climate change, and reconciliation. 

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Open Working Group Co-Chairs circulate revised zero draft

The revised zero draft on the Introduction and proposed goals and targets on sustainable development for the post2015 development agenda were circulated yesterday by the Co-Chairs. These will form the basis for the eight days negotiations that remain for the 13th session of the Open Working Group (OWG).

In their accompanying letter the Co-Chairs said: “We have adjusted the document to more closely reflect areas of agreement and expressed priorities. We have also sought to simplify and harmonize the phrasing of some of the goals. And, as promised, we have tightened the draft by substantially consolidating the number of targets.”

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PMNCH Partners Forum: Parallel Session 4E

July 2014 • 2.30 pm - 3.40 pm

Join us for an interactive chat show style discussion at parallel session 4E of the PMNCH Partners Forum. Coupling recent scientific evidence with experience, panellists will present the need for SRHR and family planning to be directly included in the post-2015 agenda from the perspectives of health, equity, human rights, poverty alleviation, gender, and youth. and especially on improved maternal, newborn, and child health.

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PMHCH 2014 Partners’ Forum begins in Johannesburg, South Africa:

Now it is in our hands

The 2014 Partners’ Forum for the Partnership on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) opened today in Johannesburg, with delegates gathered to consider all that still needs to be done in the next 500 days for women’s and children’s health.

Following video messages from former US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton and Ban Ki Moon, United Nations Secretary General, Mrs Graça Machel, PMNCH Chair and African Ambassador for A Promised Renewed, opened the Forum saying “we come with a united message that the needless deaths of women, newborns and children must stop“. She spoke of the importance of using this moment to draw on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to date and in looking forward to the next 500 days ahead. She remarked that contributions from unique partnerships such as PMNCH as well as individual contribution and accountability are vital and urged participants to create a social pact to save every single life possible in every single country. “We must do more and we must do better”, she said, “we must push and push then push some more, we have 500 days, every day accounts, every action counts and every life counts”.

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