Global Civil Society Conference on Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, Reconfirming Rights – Recognising Limits – Redefining Goals

20 – 22 March 2013, Bonn, Germany

The global civil society conference on Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, Reconfirming Rights – Recognising Limits – Redefining Goals will be held in Bonn, Germany on 20-22 March 2013. It will bring together civil society activists and representatives from key stakeholders to draw together civil society inputs into the Sustainable Development and Post-2015 discussions.

Click to read more ...

Civil Society and the Open Working Group URGENT ACTION

The Open Working Group (OWG), in accordance with the outcome document of the Rio + 20 Conference, Future We Want, paragraph 248 calls for the “full involvement of relevant stakeholders and expertise from civil society, the scientific community and the United Nations system in its work to provide a diversity of perspectives and experience.”

As has been mentioned in previous posting on the NGOs Beyond 2014 website, it is important that civil society organizations (CSOs) urge that the modalities be set up for their inclusion in the process. As the first meeting of the OWG has been confirmed for 14-15 March, if your country is a member of the OWG (see attached list), you are urged to write to your UN Permanent Representative (Ambassador) at the UN in New York, citing the relevant paragraph from the Future We Want, asking that he/she work to ensure the inclusion of civil society in the process. (Addresses for the UN Missions in New York can be found in the ‘Blue Book’)

Click to read more ...

Countdown to Bali meeting of the High Level Panel

The High Level Panel (HLP) will be meeting in Bali, Indonesia, 25 – 27 March 2013, to discuss ‘Global Partnerships’. Key issues, in keeping with the 24 Framing Questions, to be discussed with include:

Click to read more ...

High Level meeting on Health

As reported by UNICEF, the High-level Dialogue has taken place in Gaborone, Botswana, on 5-6 March 2013. Organized by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and with the support of the Governments of Botswana and Sweden, advancing health priorities in the post-2015 agenda were discussed.

The meeting brought together some 50 participants from Member States, members of the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP), health ministers, civil society, academic institutions and the private sector. The participants discussed a draft report on health in the post-2015 agenda, including recommendations for framing the future agenda for health. The report, which was based on e-discussions and inputs on the World We Want 2015 website and 13 face-to-face discussions in different regions, calls for placing health at the center of the post-2015 agenda to protect environmental sustainability and advance economic development, human well-being, equity and social justice.

Click to read more ...

Final meeting of the Post-2015 Thematic Consultation on Governance

As reported on the IISD website, the final meeting of the Post-2015 Thematic Consultation on Governance, in which was attended by 250 participants, took place in Midrand, South Africa from 28 February to 1 March 2013. Co-led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), it aimed to build consensus and recommend how to integrate global, regional, national and sub-national governance and accountability with the intergovernmental process on the UN’s post-2015 development agenda.

Click to read more ...

High-Level Task Force for ICPD - CSW Event Press Statement

(March 7, New York) At a roundtable meeting on March 5 hosted by the High-Level Task Force for the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD), Government Ministers, delegates to the 57thCommission on the Status of Women (CSW), and representatives from UN agencies and non- governmental organizations—164 individuals representing 36 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East—shared recommendations for action around the event’s theme, Charting a Forward- Looking Agenda–Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and Fulfilling Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for All. 

The full press statement can be downloaded here.

UN Commission on the Status of Women will consider Key gender equality issues to be reflected in the post-2015 development framework

On Thursday 7 March 2013, a panel session will be held at the 57^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women on Key gender issues to be reflected in the post-2015 development framework.

Among the speakers will be Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on post-2015 development planning who will speak on
The post-2015 development agenda: Processes and opportunities; John Hendra, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Programme, UN Women, and Co-Chair, UNDG Task Force on MDGs who will address
 Gender equality and women’s rights at the center of the post-2015 development agenda; and Ms. Anita Nayar (India/USA), Executive Committee Member, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) 
whose topic is Gender equality and the post-2015 development framework: Perspectives from civil society.

The discussant is Ms. Caren Grown (USA), Economist in Residence, American University, and Senior Gender Advisor, U.S. Agency for International Development.

The issues paper for the session is attached.

Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals – latest information, 5 March 2013

The President of the General Assembly has appointed the Permanent Representatives of Hungary, HE Ambassador Csaba Körösi, and Kenya, HE Ambassador Macharia Kamau,  as the co-facilitators to prepare for the first meeting of the Open Working Group (OWG) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). First, they will be facilitating consultations on the Group’s leadership, agenda, and programme of work and methods. The Permanent Representative of Brazil, HE Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, has also been invited to work with the co-facilitators. The first meeting of the OWG is expected to take place in mid-March. 

As already reported, countries are sharing their places on the OWG, with differing arrangements. It is important to remind your Government, if a member of the Group, that the expertise of civil society should be fully involved, in accordance with Future We Want, para 248. 

Going forward after the Thematic Consultations – Latest on the General Assembly Special Event

March will see the end of most of the Thematic Consultations and the process will move on with their outcomes being included in a report that will go to the General Assembly High Level Event in September 2013.

Date announced for Special Event

Click to read more ...

URGENT -- Deadline for applications for CSOs Outreach during the Fourth UN High Level Panel Meeting on Post-2015 extended to 6 March 2013, 4.00 pm Jakarta Time (GMT+7)

The deadline has been extended to 6 March 2013, 4.00 pm Jakarta Time (GMT+7) for applications from national, regional, and global CSOs who want to participate in the upcoming CSOs Outreach during the Fourth UN High Level Panel Meeting on Post-2015 to be held in Bali, Indonesia. Interested organizations/networks/social movements should fill in this application form, and submit it to bali@infid.or.id. 

The fourth meeting of the High Level Panel will take place from 25 – 27 March 2013 under the theme of: “Global Partnership”. The first day of the HLP meeting will be an outreach and consultation day, where the Panel of Eminent Persons will take stock of key constituencies’ emerging positions and new evidence, including global CSOs.

Click to read more ...