11 June 2014: The UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) held a three-day “informal informal” session to begin consideration of the Zero Draft of the Group’s report.

In the consultations held on 9-11 June 2014, in New York, US, Member States reportedly considered options for merging the 17 proposed Goals, the targets listed under the first seven proposed Goals, and means of implementation (MOI) for the goals and targets. Member States voiced support for retaining some of the proposed stand-alone Goals, called for deleting others, and proposed various ways to combine Goals. Positions diverged regarding whether MOI should accompany each SDG.

The OWG Co-Chairs introduced a new reference document, “Mainstreamed Topics for SDGs,” that indicates how “non-headline” issues are streamlined and reflected both directly and indirectly in the current negotiating document. These issues include youth, persons with disabilities, migrants, least developed countries (LDCs), indigenous peoples, gender equality, human rights, family, financial inclusion, culture, disaster preparedness and resilience building, climate and children.

The Co-Chairs, Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary and Macharia Kamau of Kenya, are expected to consolidate the views expressed on proposed SDGs 1-7, and to begin with proposed SDG 8 at the next formal session of the OWG, on 16-20 June 2014. The Co-Chairs reminded delegates that the content of informal-informal discussions will not be binding in the formal OWG setting. [IISD RS Sources] [Mainstreamed Topics for SDGs] [IISD RS Story on Zero Draft] [Website for OWG 12] [IISD RS Coverage of OWG 12]