7 March 2014: The UN General Assembly has released the summary report of the 2013 parliamentary hearing (A/68/790), titled ‘Rethinking sustainable development: the quest for a “transformational” agenda in 2015.’ It concludes that parliamentarians should: push for fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); engage in framing the post-2015 development agenda; participate in designing national strategies for sustainable development and aligning national budgets; rally public support around national development goals; and use the post-2015 agenda as an opportunity to increase their participation in the UN.

The parliamentary hearing convened on 14-15 November 2013, in New York, US, to address the theme: ‘Rethinking sustainable development: the quest for a ‘transformational’ global agenda in 2015.’ The Presidents of the UNGA and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) organized the event.

The hearing addressed the need for a new approach to human well-being, such as sustainable prosperity. Parliamentarians recognized their role in helping to define Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and also to “rally the world around them.” Parliamentarians proposed: an objective accounting of the MDGs to demonstrate where they have brought gains for countries and individuals; establishing indicators and institutions to monitor well-being in all its dimensions; and subjecting corporations to strong environment, human rights and labor laws that cannot be evaded by moving production to lower-standard countries. Most parliamentarians expressed support for a stand-alone goal on gender equality, stressing the particular importance of addressing violence against women.

Parliamentarians advocated for an SDG on democratic governance to improve government decisions on sustainable development, noting that progress by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on defining and tracking progress on democratic governance could help in defining such a goal.

On implementation, parliamentarians said the biggest challenge facing the post-2015 agenda will be to “transform a mindset at the national level that is geared towards the maximization of national advantages at the expense of others.” Parliamentarians recognized their own role in promoting such an attitude shift to promote a space in which all countries can pursue prosperity for all while respecting planetary boundaries, meeting basic human needs and fulfilling human rights. [A/68/790]