May 2014: As inputs to ongoing discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and post-2015 development agenda, several development organizations, think tanks, and academic and civil society organizations have issued reports and other initiatives on potential SDGs and their implementation around the world.
Among other suggestions, the Major Groups have proposed modalities for their participation in the discussion on the post-2015 development agenda going forward. Drafting a letter to the President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the co-facilitators of the consultations to determine the details of the 2015 summit and preparatory process (the Permanent Representatives of Denmark and Papua New Guinea), the Major Groups, along with Beyond 2015 and the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), stress that they are prepared to take an active participatory role in the next stage of negotiations to follow the OWG. They call for stakeholder representation in the preparations and in the Summit itself, including through stakeholder hearings, and opportunities for input for both accredited and non-accredited organizations.
IRF2015, a collaboration of 11 research institutes, has developed a framework for designing and selecting goals and targets that are universal, transformative and integrated. Using guiding questions referencing the goal or target’s efforts to address resiliency, equity, systemic drivers, ecosystem services, collective action, and interlinkages, the paper analyzes the focus areas document from OWG 11 in order to push each area further.
The Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) has sent a letter to the Co-Chairs of the OWG, calling for well-defined, measurable goals and targets that mainstream transport throughout the framework. The letter proposes: a specific target on rural access to transport; a stand-alone goal to “build inclusive, safe, sustainable cities and human settlements”; and a dedicated road-safety target under a goal on health and population dynamics.
The Mining Working Group, a coalition of NGOs working on a rights-based approach to sustainable development, issued an advocacy brief on a Rights-Based Approach to Resource Extraction in the Pursuit of Sustainable Development. The brief includes a proposal for a rights-based sustainable development agenda; argues for transformation of the current model of extractive development; outlines the “Rights-based Litmus Test”; and calls for “post-extractivism,” a vision for a rights-based and sustainable model of development.
Pyramid 2030 has released an interim report on the process of applying the SDGs to the local level. Reporting on a series of local workshops around the world, the paper identifies community-driven sustainability challenges, innovative ideas, and strategies to implement the ideas at the local level.
Development Initiatives (DI) and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) have launched a new online portal (d-portal.org), to support use of data at country level. As a nationally-based data platform that tracks resource flows, the tool is intended to assist government planning and implementation of development activities. [IISD RS Sources] [The OWG-11 Focus Areas Paper: An IRF Review] [SLoCaT Press Release] [Making the Global Sustainable Development Goals A Local Reality] [D-Portal.org] [A rights-based approach to resource extraction in the pursuit of sustainable development: Advocacy Brief]