30 May 2013: The UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) has issued its final report, presenting it to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 30 May 2013, following the Panel’s adoption of the report at its final meeting on 29 May. The report recommends a post-2015 framework that pursues five “key transformations”: leave no one behind; put sustainable development at the core; transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth; build peace and effective, open and accountable public institutions; and forge a new global partnership.

“A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development” is the result of ten months of work including five formal meetings of the Panel and several outreach events. Secretary-General Ban appointed the Panel in July 2012 under the leadership of three co-chairs: David Cameron, UK Prime Minister; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia; and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia. The report is aimed at informing, among other processes, the Secretary-General’s forthcoming report to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on the post-2015 development agenda.

The Panel’s report argues for doing “something that has never before been done” – eradicating extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy and preventable deaths, which it says is now possible. But the Panel also “wanted to do more” and recommends a broader vision building on the foundations established by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), in which “deliberations on a new development agenda must be guided by the vision of eradicating extreme poverty once and for all, in the context of sustainable development.”

The report also calls for merging the poverty and environmental tracks guiding international development, and notes the “glaring” need for a single agenda. Sustainable development and climate change, for example, should no longer be seen as separate. In this regard, the Panel encourages governments to pursue growth that supports sustainable consumption and production (SCP).

The report includes an example set of 12 goals: End Poverty; Empower Girls and Women and Achieve Gender Equality; Provide Quality Education and Lifelong Learning; Ensure Healthy Lives; Ensure Food Security and Good Nutrition; Achieve Universal Access to Water and Sanitation; Secure Sustainable Energy; Create Jobs, Sustainable Livelihoods, and Equitable Growth; Manage natural resource assets sustainably; Ensure good governance and effective institutions; Ensure stable and peaceful societies; Create a Global Enabling Environment and Catalyse Long-Term Finance.

According to the report, these are the goals that will amplify each other’s impact and drive the five key transformations. Accompanying targets are aimed at the year 2030.

In addition, the Panel highlights cross-cutting issues that will be addressed by pursuing the stand-alone goals. These are: inequality, peace, climate change, cities, young people’s concerns, and SCP. To address other topics that need urgent attention but are not “suitable to a goal structure,” the Panel finds, the post-2015 agenda should also provide a narrative, which includes policy goals that call for treaty implementation or which are difficult to measure.

Chapter 1 outlines the Panel’s vision for a post-2015 development framework and the messages taken from consultations during its work. Chapter 2 explains the five transformative shifts. The section on global partnership elaborates the potential role to be played by each group in society, including: national governments; local authorities; international institutions; business; civil society organizations (CSOs); foundations, other philanthropists and social impact investors; scientists and academics; and ordinary people. Chapter 3 explains the proposed framework for the post-2015 development agenda, and specifies the various impacts it could have. Chapter 4 addresses Implementation, Accountability and Building Consensus, including a call for a “data revolution.” Following concluding remarks in Chapter 5, the report provides Annexes on the illustrative set of “universal goals” and accompanying “country targets,” and evidence of impact of each proposed goal, as well as a summary of the Panel’s outreach efforts, input papers it received, and other information.

Receiving the report on 30 May, the Secretary-General: praised the Panel for its inclusive approach and extensive consultations; welcomed the Panel’s recognition that the post-2015 development agenda should be universal, applying to North and South alike; commended the call to put sustainability at the center of the post-2015 development agenda; welcomed the attention to youth, as well as to inclusive growth and employment creation; and welcomed the Report’s recognition that peace, human rights, rule of law and good governance are core foundations for development; among other messages. [Publication: Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda] [Statement of UNSG] [UN Press Release] [HLP Website] [UN Secretary-General’s Webpage on HLP] [IISD RS Story on Fifth HLP Meeting]