Report of the Secretary-General on critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level

The unedited version of the Report of the Secretary-General on critical milestones towards coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review at the global level is now available. It has been prepared in response to paragraph 90 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for consideration at the 70^th session of UN General Assembly, the explores how to put in place a “coherent, efficient and inclusive follow-up and review system at the global level,” within the mandates outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Below is an account of the main suggestions for the work of the High-level Political Forum, drawing particular attention to those that relate to the Voluntary National Reviews, the role of the General Assembly, the ECOSOC and its functional commissions (which include the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Population and Development) and the Regional Commissions. Also included in detail are suggestions that relate to the work of Major Groups and other Stakeholders...

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2016 United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS - Register now!

We have received the following from UN-NGLS:

Register or Apply for Special Accreditation + Apply for Speaking Roles

DEADLINE: 12 February 2016

I. BACKGROUND

In accordance with resolution A/Res/70/228, the UN General Assembly will convene a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS (HLM) from 8-10 June 2016 at UN Headquarters in New York. The HLM will undertake a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realizing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 and 2011 

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UN Secretary General appoints Sustainable Development Goal Advocates

The UN Secretary-General has appointed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Advocates, including Queen Mathilde of Belgium, the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Shakira, Jeffrey Sachs, and Messi to help generate momentum and commitment to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The Advocates' tasks, according to the Secretary-General include promoting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, raising awareness of the integrated nature of the SDGs, and fostering the engagement of new stakeholders in implementing the SDGs.

The Co-chairs for the Group are John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana, and Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway. Its members include Heads of State and Government, business and political leaders, prominent academia, and others who have shown leadership in their fields.

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An invitation to get involved...

CAN International, CIVICUS, GCAP, IFP invited CSOs to get Involved: Global Civil Society Platform on Sustainable Development: https://www.loomio.org/g/uJd5wTXQ/global-civil-society-platform-on-sustainable-development

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Hope you are having a good start to 2016! The New Year ushers in the implementation phase of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate commitments.

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UN Secretary-General says that the UN must get its ‘priorities right’ in 2016, calling for ‘more and better work’

The UN Secretary-General has shared his thoughts on the direction of the United Nations’ work in 2016, saying that the global community needs to get its “priorities right,” while underlining that more and better work needs to be done.

As he told delegates at his annual informal briefing to the General Assembly, it a moment heavy with responsibility, 2016 is “Year one of the new 15-year agenda, and year 10 of my 10-year mandate. One year may seem very short in UN time. But I believe we can make it dynamic and productive.”

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Initiatives for SDG Implementation – ECOSOC briefing

As part of its dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) a briefing held a briefing at the end of 2015, in which Helen Clark, Chair of the UN Development Group (UNDG) and Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group participated.

Over a 18-month period the ECOSOC dialogue process, which consists of both formal and informal sessions, is expected to be a key input to the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the UN system (QCPR), to be issued in August 2016. The first phase of the dialogue took place from December 2014 to May 2015 and the second phase began in November 2015...

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WHO Paper Recommends ‘Governance for Health’ to Achieve SDGs

Health is perceived “as a major contributor to the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” according to a paper, entitled ‘Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,' (EB138/14) prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the 138th session of the Executive Board, to be held from 25-30 January 2016.. The paper highlights fundamental differences between the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the health aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it recommends ways for WHO to play an increased role in governance for health.

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Guttmacher Institute and The Lancet announce composition of their Commission on SRHR

As reported previously (see: Summit 18: The Lancet highlights the SDGs and introduces its Commission on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights) the Guttmacher Institute and The Lancet have established a Commission on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the post-2015 world to address key sexual and reproductive health and rights priorities and to make the case for adopting policies and programmes for moving forward on them. The following press release announces the members of the Commission. 

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Website for the High-level Political Forum 2016

A new website for the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) 2016 is now available (Add link https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2016. It includes a list of the countries that have thus far volunteered to present the first national reviews during the 2016 HLPF, which will be updated to reflect any additions. 

It also includes syntheses of inputs from Member States, UN entities and Major Groups and other Stakeholders to the UN Secretary-General’s questionnaire on global review and follow-up to the 2030 Agenda. For inputs from Major Groups and other Stakeholders see: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12NJJKWuLSYf1cIFNQaV_pyjZ0Y6gSMP--wUrD-mICLQ/edit#gid=1386233856

UN Announces 10-Member Group to Support TFM

As reported by IISD, the UN Secretary-General has announced the appointment of a ten-member group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) for the period 2016-2017. 

The group activities will include participating in the preparation of meetings of the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation (STI) for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the development and operationalization of the TFM online platform, among other tasks. The UN Secretariat also issued the Group's terms of reference.

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