4 February 2015
Stakeholders Comment on Synthesis Report, Post-2015 Process
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Civil society groups have issued reactions to the Synthesis Report of the UN Secretary-General on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

That report, titled 'The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet,' was published in December 2014 and synthesizes a range of UN inputs to the post-2015 development agenda.

Stakeholder publications also offer their views on the overall post-2015 development agenda, goals, and targets.

January 2015: Civil society groups have issued reactions to the Synthesis Report of the UN Secretary-General on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. That report, titled ‘The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet,’ was published in December 2014 and synthesizes a range of UN inputs to the post-2015 development agenda. Stakeholder publications also offer their views on the overall post-2015 development agenda, goals and targets.

The Center for Economic and Social Rights’ (CESR) reaction to the Synthesis Report welcomes its language and content on human rights, but calls for a stronger emphasis on the issue of inequality. CESR also welcomes the report’s content on accountability and financing, and calls on UN Member States to commit to a “truly transformative paradigm shift” with the post-2015 agenda.

Beyond 2015’s reaction to the Synthesis Report echos the Secretary-General’s call for a universal and ambitious agenda. The document questions how the report’s six “essential elements” will be linked with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and cautions against a “silo effect” among the goals and targets.

The International Coalition on Advocacy for Nutrition calls for greater urgency in the language on ending poverty and hunger, and for more attention to long-term health goals, including breastfeeding and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Coalition urges Member States to support a dedicated SDG on nutrition.

Development Initiatives provided a reaction paper welcoming the Synthesis Report’s emphasis on consultation, inclusivity, and inequalities. It supports the call for all countries to develop national development plans, and calls for development financing to be targeted at people, not countries.

The Open Society Foundations Justice Initiative states that the Synthesis Report “strengthens expectations that justice will be a cornerstone of the new development framework.” It calls for integration of measurement in three areas of justice throughout the post-2015 agenda: government progress; social progress; and people’s experiences.

A paper published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) stresses that slimming down the proposed set of targets will be critical. It calls for two types of targets, one that is globally determined and comparable, and the other determined at the national level.

HelpAge International welcomes the Synthesis Report’s identification of population ageing as a major demographic trend, but warns that its focus on “vulnerable groups” can perpetuate policy gaps. The development agenda should look instead at building individual resilience over the course of peoples’ lives.

On the post-2015 development agenda process more generally, Stakeholder Forum released a report titled ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Integration: Achieving a better balance between the economic, social and environmental dimensions.’ It assesses the set of SDGs proposed by the Open Working Group (OWG), and puts forward stakeholder proposals for amendments and additions to the goals, in the hope of improving integration among the three dimensions of sustainable development.

World Vision has called for the agenda to focus on vulnerable children and explicitly addresses their specific needs. It congratulates the 30 UN Member States who have formed a “Group of Friends for Children and SDGs,” and calls on them to reach a compromise for a higher standard in the post-2015 agenda.

A paper from the Caribbean Natural Resource Institute (CANARI) outlines a Caribbean strategic position on sustainable development. Key messages include: small island developing States (SIDS) represent a “special case” for sustainable development; the inherent vulnerability of islands constrain their development; and a strategy must be based on building economic, natural, social, and political resilience.

A coalition of stakeholder groups published a technical paper titled ‘Secure and equitable land rights in the Post-2015 Development Agenda’ stressing the need for a continued emphasis on land rights and for monitoring the role of land rights to make cities and human settlements more inclusive. [CESR Reaction] [Beyond 2015 Reaction] [International Coalition for Advocacy on Nutrition Reaction] [Development Initiatives Reaction] [Open Society Foundations Justice Initiative Reaction] [ODI Reaction] [HelpAge International Reaction] [Publication: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Integration: Achieving a better balance between the economic, social and environmental dimensions] [Caribbean Natural Resource Institute Paper] [Publication: Secure and equitable land rights in the Post-2015 Development Agenda] [IISD RS Sources]

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