European Civil Society calls upon the Open Working Group on SDGs to support SRHR

(Brussels, 30 April 2014) Over 87 European NGOs across 42 European countries joined forces this week to call upon their governments and other likeminded states to express strong support for universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) at the upcoming 11^th session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

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CSO participation in the UNGASS

Updated on Friday, May 2, 2014 at 6:38AM by Richard

The following information has been received from Noemi Espinoza, Civil Society Partnerships, ICPD Beyond 2014, UNFPA:

In preparation for the special session of the General Assembly on the follow-up to the PoA of the ICPD, to be held on 22 September 2014 in New York, UNFPA is compiling  a list of non-ECOSOC accredited civil society organizations (CSOs) that wish to participate.

In accordance with paragraph 4(d) of General Assembly resolution A/67/250, the President of the General Assembly will draw up a list of non-ECOSOC accredited CSOs that may participate in the special session.  This list will then be submitted for approval on a non-objection basis to Member States.  

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World Conference on Youth

The World Conference on Youth will take place in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 6-10 May 2014 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Bringing together some 1500 participants, half of whom will be young people aged 18 to 29 and with 350 of them coming from marginalized backgrounds, the conference is seen as one of the most well represented youth events at the global level. Its focus will be on 'mainstreaming Youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda'. It will produce a joint outcome document between states and young people called the Colombo Action Plan. It will be important for young people to be able to influence the shaping of the outcome, which will serve as an input into the Secretary General’s post-2015 Synthesis Report.

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Call for Proposals — 2nd Annual international Conference on Sustainable Development Practice on ‘Advancing Evidence-Based Solutions for the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda

The following message has been received from Guido Schmidt-Traub of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN):

The Global Association of Master's in Development Practice Programs (MDP), in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), will hold the Second Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development Practice (ICSDP) on September 17-18, 2014 at Columbia University in New York City.

The Conference theme, Advancing Evidence-Based Solutions for the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, seeks proposals for practical solutions to address the complex challenges of sustainable development at local, regional, and global levels.

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Arrangements for Session 11 of the Open Working Group (OWG-11)

The Programme of Work for the OWG-11 is available at http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/owg11.html

The Co-Chairs will hold meetings with the Major Groups each morning from Monday to Thursday.

In addition to the revised focal areas document the co-chairs have also posted the compilation of proposed Goals and targets from the previous session.

Latest version of the revised working document for the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals 11th Session (OWG-11)

The Co-Chairs have released the revised working document on goals and targets for the SDGs, in preparation for the May session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG-11). There will also be an annex compiling proposals on the goals and targets as elaborated during OWG-10, which is intended to serve as a comprehensive reference document. Together the two documents will serve as a solid basis for advancing our work. 

The number of focus areas has now been reduced from 19 to 16, with some being merged with others eg employment and infrastructure has been merged with economic growth; and equality among nations has been included under industrialization.

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Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (19-21 May, 2014 in Pattaya), the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Forum on Sustainable Development (15-17 May, 2014 in Bangkok), and an associated event

Please see information from Rae Kwon Chung, Director, Environment and Development Division, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP):

General Assembly Resolution 67/290 specifically invites the United Nations Regional Commissions to contribute to the work of the high level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF). A key aspect of this work is the identification of regional challenges and priorities for sustainable development,  and  the  post-2015 development agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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RESURJ's public statement on CPD 47 – 20 Years after Cairo: Women continue to reproduce but never mind about Sexuality

Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ) has been working hard since 2010 to advance global health and population policies to consider women’s and young people’s autonomy over their sexuality, and not merely their reproduction, as critical to realizing human rights, social justice and development objectives.  In the last four years, we have seen the landscape of global feminism working on sexual and reproductive health change leadership, generations, politics, and strategies. We feel triumphant at having shaped the spaces where we work and engage, even if governments haven’t changed theirs.

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Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals – Programme of Work up to August 2014

According to the Programme of Work for the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the next session, OWG-11 (5-9 May) the consultations will be based on the revised focus area document, after which the document will be revised again.

During OWG-12 (16-20 June) consultations will be held on the SDGs and targets and refined SDGs and targets will be produced. These will be edited and tweaked before OWG-13 (14-18 July) at which the consultations on the SDGs and targets will lead to agreement and adoption on the report. This will then be transmitted to the President fo the General Assembly and the Secretary-General in August.

Young People Speak up for their Sexual and Reproductive Rights at 47th CPD

Over 100 young people from across the globe came together during the 47th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) to let governments know that their sexual and reproductive rights are non-negotiable. The weeklong Commission, which ended early Saturday morning, was convened at the UN headquarters in New York to assess 20 years of progress since the groundbreaking agreements made at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. 

Throughout the week, young people representing civil society from all regions and diversities spoke up on sexual and reproductive rights issues ranging from comprehensive sexuality education to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services; access to safe and legal abortion; and

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