18 March 2013
First Meeting of the OWG on SDGs Elects Co-Chairs, Engages in Initial Exchange of Views
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The first session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took place on 14-15 March 2013 at UN Headquarters in New York.

A general discussion, taking the form of statements, was held Thursday morning and all day Friday, and an interactive discussion on “Conceptualizing the SDGs” took place on Thursday afternoon.

15 March 2013: The first session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took place on 14-15 March 2013 at UN Headquarters in New York. A general discussion, taking the form of statements, was held Thursday morning and all day Friday, and an interactive discussion on “Conceptualizing the SDGs” took place on Thursday afternoon.

The meeting brought together OWG members, other Member States, observers, representatives from the UN system and Major Groups. The OWG elected, as Co-Chairs, Csaba Körösi, Permanent Representative of Hungary, and Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, who had served as co-facilitators of the consultations pertaining to the preparations for the first session of the OWG. The OWG also adopted the provisional agenda for its overall work, and programme of work and methods of work for the first session.

Opening the session, UNGA President Vuk Jeremić said the “process of formulating the SDGs will undoubtedly be a complicated one, requiring great diplomatic skills.” In accordance with the Rio+20 outcome document, The Future We Want, Jeremić recalled that the OWG would have to submit a proposed list of SDGs to the 68th session of the UNGA. He added that the SDGs would need to be formulated in a manner that integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development into a “single, fully coherent whole” and that fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should be a starting point. He stressed the need for inclusion and for significant resource mobilization for the SDG process. He also noted the Special Event to Follow-up on Efforts made towards achieving the MDGs on 25 September 2013 as a final occasion for leaders to identify actions to complete the MDG process and to provide guidance on priorities to focus on.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the SDGs should accelerate and continue the work begun with the MDGs and called for: taking into account poverty eradication, promotion of health, education and economic and social development; further integrating environmental sustainability, considering the rule of law, human rights, gender equality and empowerment of women, governance institution building and freedom from violence; and addressing special needs of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and challenges of post-conflict states. He informed that the UN Development Group (UNDG) is facilitating consultations on the post-2015 development agenda in 83 countries and conducting thematic consultations on 11 issues. He called on the OWG to build on the recommendations of the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) report that will be delivered at the end of May 2013, and to coordinate elaboration of the SDGs with the post-2015 development agenda.

Participants shared their initial views on both the process and substance of the SDG framework. While most statements addressed general considerations for the SDG framework and the OWG’s work, some outlined priorities for issues to include in the goals. According to an oral summary by Co-Chair Körösi, the main areas emphasized were: eradication of poverty and hunger; employment and decent jobs; sustainable consumption and production (SCP); gender equality and empowerment of women; access to and good management of essential aspects of human well-being, such as food, water, health and energy; and means of implementation.

In addition, numerous delegates outlined their views on integrating the SDGs with the post-2015 development agenda. Many also called for remaining focused on implementation of the MDGs. While a certain number of participants highlighted complementarities between MDGs and SDGs and potential for convergence, others said the two approaches should be kept separate.

During the interactive discussion on Thursday afternoon, Amina Mohammed, Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, reiterated the Secretary-General’s full commitment of the UN system to the work of the OWG and advising Member States to draw on the work of the existing post-2015 processes. She emphasized a need for the international community to create a strong narrative for the new development agenda that will galvanize political support at the country level. Martin Khor, Executive Director, South Centre, focused on the needs of developing countries for a post-2015 development agenda and proposed a design for goals separated between SDGs and enhanced MDGs. Responding to the separation of the SDG and enhanced MDG agendas, Manish Bapna, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, World Resources Institute, proposed that a proactive merging of these agendas may actually be a better path. He called on countries to create forward-looking goals that will be able to respond to deepened challenges in the future. David Steven, Associate Director, Center on International Cooperation, New York University, stressed that goals should be expressions of global consensus to solve on an issue. He challenged members to start with a plan for implementation and work backwards from that point, determining methods, finance, and plans to make change before setting the goal.

Closing the meeting, Körösi said the Co-Chairs will consult with delegates to finalize dates of upcoming meetings and release a workplan for the next several meetings, ensuring more advanced notice for future sessions. [IISD RS Summary of the Meeting] [UN Division for Sustainable Development Website on OWG] [SDG OWG First Session Webcast] [SDG OWG First Session Statements and Presentations] [Department of Economic and Social Affairs News] [UN News]


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