28 July 2014
UN Agencies Respond to OWG Outcome
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UN agencies began responding to the proposal of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), after the OWG concluded its work on 19 July 2014 with recommendations for 17 possible goals and 169 targets.

United NationsiomlogoJuly 2014: UN agencies began responding to the proposal of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), after the OWG concluded its work on 19 July 2014 with recommendations for 17 possible goals and 169 targets.

Speaking at the 20th International AIDS conference in Melbourne, Australia, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark noted that the OWG had recommended a significant increase in the level of ambition on HIV, moving from the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halting and reversing the epidemic, to ending it by 2030. She observed that “AIDS is increasingly a disease of inequalities and exclusion,” and also drew attention to the broad reach of the proposed SDGs in targeting gender inequality and all forms of discrimination, and in promoting a culture of peace and non-violence. She pledged that UNDP will continue to advocate for the social determinants of HIV to be addressed, including through the repeal of punitive laws and policies against sex workers and others.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a statement welcoming the focus on migration during the final round of OWG negotiations, at OWG 13, and in its outcome document. IOM noted agreed targets on: the facilitation of orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration; reduction of transaction costs of migrant remittances to less that 3%; and ending exploitation, trafficking, and violence against women and children.

Dalee Sambo Dorough, chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII), as well as Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples, and Albert DeTerville, a member of the UN Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, noted with concern that the outcome document does not contain any references to “indigenous peoples,” even though the term had been included in earlier drafts. They warned that the SDGs must not be “a step backwards” for indigenous peoples, stressing that indigenous peoples can contribute significantly the achieving the aims of sustainable development, through their traditional knowledge of natural resource management. [UNDP Administrator Statement] [IOM Press Release] [UN Press Release] [UNRIC Press Release] [IISD RS Coverage of OWG 13] [OWG Outcome Document]


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