Fifth meeting of the IAEG-SDGs, 28-31 March, Ottawa, Canada

It has been announced that the fifth meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals will be held from 28 to 31 March 2017 in Ottawa, Canada, hosted by Statistics Canada.

The Members meeting will take place on 28 - 29 March and a Plenary Session on 30 - 31 March, which all countries, international and regional agencies and entities, and other stakeholders are invited to attend. 

Meeting objectives…

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Nominate yourself to participate in the EGM on Enhancing MGoS engagement in National Level Reviews - Bogota, Colombia 26 March 2017 (TBC)

UN DESA Division for Sustainable Development will organize an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on 26th March 2017 (TBC) in Bogota, Colombia (Venue TBC).

Qualified representatives are kindly requested to indicate their interest to participate by completing the nomination form no later than 5PM EST (2200 GMT) on Tuesday, 14 February 2017. Kindly note that ALL interested representatives (those requesting funding and those who have resources to cover their own travel expenses) need to register in this form for participation. An accessible MS Word document form is attached for persons with visual impairment.

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Apply to speak or attend: UN High-level Action Event on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Agenda, 23 March 2017 at UNHQ

On 23 March 2017, the President of the 71st UN General Assembly, Ambassador Peter Thomson, in collaboration with the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ms. Patricia Espinosa, will convene Member States, the UN System, and stakeholders at United Nations Headquarters in a High-level Action Event on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Agenda.

At the request of the Office of the President of the General Assembly (OPGA), UN-NGLS is facilitating a process to identify two civil society speakers, one social entrepreneur speaker, and stakeholders wishing to attend as observers…

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Meeting with H.E Mr. Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, President of ECOSOC, 10-11 am, 14 February 2017, S2729 New York Headquarters. [Deadline 9 Feb]

We have received the following from Division for Sustainable Development | DESA:

Dear all:

The meeting between the ECOSOC President and the MGoS HLPF Coordination mechanism will be held on Tuesday, 14 February, from 10am to 11am EST in room S-2729 ( located on the 27th floor of the secretariat building). For colleagues joining via webex, please see webex details below. All participants are kindly asked to sign up using this google doc (both those joining in-person and remotely via WebEX)…

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Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls: review theme for 61st session of the Commission on Status of Women focuses on the 2030 Agenda

The Report of the Secretary-General for the Review theme for the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on the challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for women and girls (Agreed conclusions of 58th session) has a strong focus on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It includes information received from Member States; the Secretary-General’s report on progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs); and voluntary national reports (VNRs) submitted to the high-level political forum (HLPF). (paras 1 & 5) The voluntary presentations by Member States identifying progress, gaps and challenges at the 61st session of the CSW will also contribute to the review. (para 4)…

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The Trump Global Gag Rule: An Attack on U.S. Family Planning and Global Health Aid

We have received the following from the Guttmacher Institute

The Trump Global Gag Rule: An Attack on U.S. Family Planning and Global Health Aid 

By Ann Starrs

In a Comment published in The Lancet, Guttmacher President and CEO Ann M. Starrs discusses the many harms of the global gag rule, a policy imposed by President Trump that will disrupt U.S. international family planning programs as well as U.S. global health aid more broadly.

The article is excerpted below and the full Comment is available at The Lancet (with citations and free of charge): “The Trump global gag rule: an attack on U.S. family planning and global health aid.”...

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HLPF CM – 31 January 2017

 A meeting of the HLPF Co-ordinating Mechanism (CM) was held on Tuesday 31 January 2017. Below are notes on the issues that were discussed including the proposed Expert Group Meeting of Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS), the ECOSOC President’s Retreat and the up-coming meeting with him. A matter of concern are issues related to CSO participation in the HLPF and also on invitations to informal meetings such as the Retreat...

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Report Launch: Youth Solutions Report

On Jan. 31, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network - Youth will be launching its Youth Solutions Report at the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum in New York, co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN.

This first edition report will feature 50 innovative youth solutions and ideas working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with...

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Call for Nominations for UN Public Service Awards (deadline 28 February 2017)

Message on behalf of DESA Division for Public Administration and Development Management:

Dear Colleagues, 

The United Nations has launched a call for nominations for the 2017 United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) which the UN Secretary-General gives to reward innovation and excellence in public services in support of the realisation of the SDGs.  The Awards is open to all public organizations -- national and local governments and public-private partnerships for delivering services. Non-Governmental Organizations are invited to nominate initiatives for the Awards...

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World Data Forum Follow-up

An invitation has been extended to join the Virtual UN World Data Forum in this letter from the UN Statistics Division:

Dear Participants of the first UN World Data Forum

We are pleased to announce the launch today of the "Virtual UN World Data Forum" at to…

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