28 May 2014
UNGA Considers Elements of Post-2015 Accountability Framework
story highlights

Participants agreed on the need for a strengthened, inclusive accountability framework with broad-based ownership that engages people at all levels, in order to set up a universal, transformative agenda that responds to specific global, regional and national realities, according to an official summary of the UN General Assembly's (UNGA) Interactive Dialogue on Elements for an Accountability Framework for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

UNGAMay 2014: Participants agreed on the need for a strengthened, inclusive accountability framework with broad-based ownership that engages people at all levels, in order to set up a universal, transformative agenda that responds to specific global, regional and national realities, according to an official summary of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Interactive Dialogue on Elements for an Accountability Framework for the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

The Interactive Dialogue took place on 1 May 2014, in New York, US. The summary highlights six main messages that emerged from the discussions and panel presentations on ‘Concepts for a new accountability framework or frameworks for the post-2015 development agenda’ and ‘Learning from existing review mechanisms.’

Participants agreed the accountability framework should be guided by national ownership and leadership, involve all stakeholders and build institutional capacity and skill sets for national level monitoring. They also said it should go beyond the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) framework, including by closing gaps and linking with policy and implementation.

National and regional frameworks should anchor the global accountability framework, according to participants. Member States suggested a multi-layered approach including engagement with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) at the global level, peer-review mechanisms at the regional level and parliaments at the national level. Participants recommended encouraging accountability through peer reviews, emphasizing that countries in the same region “share similar challenges and are likely to make greater progress by collectively addressing them.” Participants also highlighted a decentralized accountability system as a way to incentivize stakeholders to share, evaluate and adjust policies.

The summary also incorporates participants’ interventions on the process for formulating a framework, elements of the framework, levels of implementation, partnerships, and data and information, including recommendations for accessible, disaggregated and user-friendly data sets.

The Office of the President of the UNGA organized the dialogue. Speakers included: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; President Ashe; Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson; Amina J. Mohammed, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning; Scott Vaughan, President and CEO, IISD; Claire Melamed, Overseas Development Institute (ODI); Ignacio Saiz, Executive Director, Center for Economic and Social Rights; Anders Johnson, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union; Roberto Bissio, Executive Director, Third World Institute; Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Jose Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University; Paul Zeitz, Global Development Incubator; John Hendra, UN Women; and Teresa Fogelberg, Global Reporting Initiative. [Summary of key messages] [Background Note] [Letter from UNGA President] [Dialogue Programme]


related events


related posts