ESCAP - Civil Society meeting

We have received the following from the International Planned Parenthood Federation:

The civil society forum, prior to the Economic and Social Commission for Asian Pacific (ESCAP) International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) regional review will be on 12- 13 September, Bangkok. The forum is being organized in partnership by a steering committee comprised of:  Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) , International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW), The Asian- Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), South Asia Regional Youth Network (SARYN), 7 Sisters, International Council on Management of Population Programme (ICOMP), Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), Help Age International, IPPF ESEAOR/SARO 

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Sexual and reproductive health and rights and UN Women consultation on stand alone goal on gender equality and gender mainstreaming

UN Women has posted a position paper outlining its recommendations for the post-2015 development agenda on the World We Want 2015 website ). In the paper UN Women calls for addressing the structural causes of gender inequality through a stand-alone goal and gender mainstreaming throughout the post-2015 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provides the evidence for and expands on the arguments presented in a shorter version issued in May 2013.

It should be noted that the paper refers throughout to “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights”. While this is agreed language as included in the ICPD Programme of Action, in the development of the Post-2015 Development Agenda the language has moved on to “sexual and reproductive health and rights”.  It will be important going forward to encourage UN Women to refer to “sexual and reproductive health and rights.”

NGO participation in UN General Assembly Special Event on MDGs, 25 September 2013

Following our recent postings on the UN General Assembly Special Event on MDGs to be held at the UN in New York on 25 September 2013, we wish to inform you about the process for NGOs and CSOs that wish to be invited to participate in this event.

The President of the General Assembly will draw up a list of representatives of NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC, as well as other relevant civil society organizations, academic institutions, youth groups and private sector representatives. Nominations by non-ECOSOC groups will be circulated to Member States on a no-objection basis. If confirmed they will receive confirmation on 7 September 2013. Your organization can express its interest to participate in this event by registering here

Registration will close on 19 August 2013.

The special event will be broadcast live and on archive video at: http://webtv.un.org.

Advancing Regional Recommendations on Post-2015: A Dialogue between Civil Society, Governments and UN Representatives on 22 September 2013

Advancing Regional Recommendations on Post-2015: A Dialogue between Civil Society, Governments and UN Representatives on 22 September 2013 toward the UN General Assembly Special Event on the MDGs on 25 September

The UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service has provided information on the CSO Consultation for the Special Event that will be held in the United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 3 (CB) 
on 22 September 2013 
from 14.00 to 17.30 hours.

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ICPD Beyond 2014 – next steps along the way to the 2014 General Assembly Special Session

With 13 months to go to the UN General Assembly Special Session for ICPD Beyond 2014, preparations are well underway. Two of the five Regional meetings have been held and the next one is taking place on 12-15 August, with those for the Asia and Pacific Region and Africa, (for which the dates have been changed). In addition the International Conference on Human Rights has taken place.

The next important meeting will be the ICPD Beyond 2014 Expert Meeting on Women's Health -Rights, Empowerment and Social Determinants which will be held in Mexico City from 30th Sept to 2nd October Mexico City. For more information, as it becomes available, see here for further details.

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My World Awards: Call For Nominations

My World Team has announced the Call for Nominations to the MY World Partner Recognition Awards. This Awards aim to symbolically recognise the critical contribution of partners to the success of MY World, and will be granted to a selection of partners who have stood out for their performance in the promotion of MY World.

To send your nomination for  the MY World Partner Recognition Award, please: 

• Review the  MY World Award Rules  
• Fill out the nomination form and send it to awards@myworld2015.org indicating “Nomination MW Award” in the subject line

The deadline for submissions is 25 August 2013.

Postponed: UNECA/African Union Regional Population Conference

We have received the following from the International Planned Parenthood Federation:

The UNECA/African Union Regional Population Conference, has been postponed until 30 September- 4 October. The new date for the Civil Society pre- event is 26- 27 September. Registrations to participate in the civil society pre- event for self- sponsored candidates is now open. For more detail on how to apply please visit http://www.ippf.org/our-work/what-we-do/advocacy/icpd/ECA/csoparticipation. 

The deadline to register is Wednesday 14 August 2013.

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Strategies for moving forward towards the UN General Assembly Special Event, 25 September 2013

Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Government of Sweden, and member of High Level Panel (HLP) and Paul Ladd, United Nations Development Programme were the two main speakers at a meeting to launch the report of the COMPASS 2015 report Setting the post-2015 development compass: Voices from the ground, which was hosted by the Commonwealth Foundation in London on 30 July 2013. 

In her Keynote response, Minister Carlsson said that being on the HLP had been a rewarding experience, but that we had had the best of times in working to end poverty in our times. We will now have to move to address the needs of the most marginalized that have no voice. The time has now come to “lean forward to be more outspoken”. We need to update what we know about people who live in poverty: they are not poor, nor are they without aspirations, and they have the right to be part of processes such as globalization, digitalization etc. Their voices must be heard more loudly than before. She also emphasized the needs for practical changes.

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Stakeholder Forum's new interactive timeline.

The Stakeholder Forum has created an interactive timeline of key milestones for three of the primary post-Rio+20 processes: the Expert Committee on a Sustainable Development Financing Strategy; the high level political forum; and sustainable development goals. It also outlines key milestones for the post-MDG process, which, along with the SDGs form the central components of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Stakeholder Forum will continue to update the timeline as these processes progress. 

Confirmation of dates and venue for African Regional ICPD Conference

The UN Economic Commission for Africa has announced that the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) for the Africa Region will be held on 30 September 2013 to 4 October 2013 at the UN Conference Centre, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the conference will be Harnessing the Demographic Dividend: The future we want for Africa.  This conference seeks to emphasize the need for state and non-state actors to recommit themselves at the highest level to implementing fully the ICPD Plan of Action at national and regional levels.

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