7 May 2012: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted a high-level workshop on “Sustainable Development Goals: Asia-Pacific Perspectives for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.”

The workshop, held on 7 May 2012, in Manila, Philippines, was chaired by Erna Witoelar, Former Special Ambassador for MDGs for Asia and the Pacific, and Brice Lalonde, Executive Coordinator of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). Senior UN officials, high-level government representatives from the region, international experts and civil society representatives discussed the possible sustainable development goals (SDGs) as the Rio+20 approaches.

Speakers addressed the status of discussions on SDGs in preparation for Rio+20, as well as possible scenarios for convergence between the SDG and the post-2015 development agendas. Participants emphasized lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) experience in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular the need for a high level of country ownership and flexibility to deal with disparities within and among countries. Finally, discussions focused on how to translate global SDGs into country-specific goals, targets and indicators to be “mainstreamed” into national development plans and budget processes. [Workshop Webpage]