16 March 2016: The President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Mogens Lykketoft, has appointed María Emma Mejía Vélez, Permanent Representative of Colombia, as facilitator to consult with Member States to agree on a proposal for strategically aligning the agenda of future sessions of the UNGA with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The letter notes that this process is in accordance with UNGA Resolution 69/321 on the ‘Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly.’ This Resolution (paragraph 24) recalls the need to avoid duplication and overlap of the agendas of the UNGA, especially of its Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and its subsidiary bodies, and the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), as well as other related fora.

The Permanent Representative of Colombia will be supported by four members of the UN General Committee, who also chair some of the “most affected bodies,” Lykketoft notes: Oh Joon, Permanent Representative of Korea and President of ECOSOC; Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco and Chair of the Third Committee; Karel van Oosterom, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands and Chair of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security); and Andrej Logar, Permanent Representative of Slovenia and Chair of the Second Committee.

The consultation process is expected to take place between March and mid-July 2016, and to include: an informal briefing and a request to the UN Secretariat to initiate mapping of UNGA agenda items and resolutions (March 2016); the mapping itself (April 2016); a meeting between the facilitator (Mejía) and the four supporting Permanent Representatives (Oh, Hilale, van Oosterom and Logar) to discuss mapping and prepare draft recommendations (May 2016); an informal outreach and an informal briefing on the draft recommendations with all Member States (May 2016); informal consultations with Member States (June 2016); and a presentation of the outcome document and adoption (mid-July). [UNGA President’s Letter] [Information on UNGA Revitalization Process] [UNGA Resolution 69/321] [Letter on Need to Address Synergies, Coherence and Complementarity of UNGA Agenda, November 2015]