20 November 2014: During a Parliamentary Hearing at the UN, participants examined the responsibilities shared by governments and parliaments in ensuring that people are at the center of the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The annual hearing was organized jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the UN.

The hearing took place on 19-20 November 2014 in New York, US.

In opening remarks, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that parliamentarians are “vital to every part of the agenda” to advance peace, development and human rights, as they are the bridge between the local, national and international levels, and have “their finger on the pulse of people’s concerns.” He said parliaments will play a central role in translating and adapting the agenda into change on the ground, through legislation, fiscal reforms, robust citizen participation and effective oversight, evaluation and accountability.

UN General Assembly President Sam Kutesa highlighted that “as a pillar of democracy and good governance,” parliaments can play an important role in shaping a people-centered approach to the new agenda, because of their unique perspective on the specific circumstances of their respective countries and of the capabilities of governments to meet development aspirations.

IPU President Saber Chowdhury stressed that the parliamentary voice is the voice of the people, and needs to be plugged into the intergovernmental negotiations. “Strategic cooperation between the IPU and the UN is actually a triangle – IPU, UN, and the national parliaments – as we can devise the best agreements and come up with the most eloquent language, but unless there is ownership, unless there is buy-in, unless the agendas are discussed in the respective national parliaments, we are not going to have the impact that we are looking for,” he said.

During the first session of the hearing, ‘Putting people first: the right to development for all,’ members of parliaments (MPs) noted that the outcome of the Open Working Group (OWG) on the SDGs is a “vast improvement” over the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when it comes to integrating the human rights framework, but the draft still could be strengthened. They explained that the SDGs have to make very clear that States have an obligation to implement the goals if they abide by the human rights framework, and must have a strong focus on ending inequalities. In this respect, the discussion suggested that the proposed Goal 10 needs “a lot of improvement, at a minimum by clearly spelling out specific groups, identifying those groups and corresponding policies.”

During the session dedicated to ‘Making markets work for people: regulations and safeguards,’ MPs discussed tools to improve markets’ functioning from a people-centered perspective. At the global level, they stressed the need for a common tax regime and for reforming international mechanisms for debt restructuring, market access, intellectual property rights (IPR), technology transfer, and the other means of implementation (MOI) for the post 2015 development agenda “to create a leveled playing field for all countries.” At the national level, discussions revealed that the austerity measures taken in many countries as a result of the 2008 crisis undermine economic development and hurt the most vulnerable. The MPs offered suggestions to complement fiscal policy as a market stabilization mechanism: facilitate access to capital for those willing to set up or expand business; design strong competition policies to avoid monopolies and price rigging, and contributing this way to the expansion of the tax base to support social programs and infrastructure development; and ensure transparency at all levels, for all stakeholders.

The issue of gender equality emerged during the session on inequality and discrimination. MPs noted that changing discriminatory laws can help eliminate inequality in society, and a case was made for grassroots organizing to allow women (and other vulnerable groups) to claim their rights. Many agreed that laws that diminish space for independent movements should be eliminated.

During the session on monitoring and accountability for the SDGs, MPs noted that parliaments will need to better integrate the Goals in their own processes, including by instituting multi-party and multi-portfolio committees to advance the Goals in a cross-cutting way. Some stressed that institutions are needed to lock in a long-term perspective in policy making, which will help overcome the short-term approach inherent to the electoral cycle. Many underlined that a strong accountability framework must be outlined “directly in the SDGs” for the national, regional, and global levels, and that all partners need to be held accountable, including the private sector and civil society, but parliaments must play a greater role as it is their legal mandate to oversee the government. At the global level, the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and a peer-review mechanism within the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF) were highlighted as potential monitoring and accountability tools. Chowdhury added that timely reporting by parliaments to the IPU Assembly could add another monitoring element. [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [Statement of UNGA President] [Statement of IPU President] [Event Webpage][IISD RS Sources]