Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Permanent Representative of Brazil, and Cesare Maria Ragaglini, Permanent Representative of Italy, will facilitate the negotiations on the modalities and format of the high-level political forum to follow up on the implementation of sustainable development.
UNGA President Jeremić says the negotiations should begin as soon as possible.
18 December 2012: The President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Vuk Jeremić, has announced the appointment of two facilitators for negotiations on the establishment of a universal intergovernmental high-level political forum to follow-up on the implementation of sustainable development (HLPF).
Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Permanent Representative of Brazil, and Cesare Maria Ragaglini, Permanent Representative of Italy, will facilitate the negotiations, which Jeremić says should begin as soon as possible. He writes that much work remains to define the Forum’s format and modalities.
The decision to establish a HLPF was part of the outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), which called for “an intergovernmental and open, transparent and inclusive negotiation process under the General Assembly to define the format and organizational aspects of the high-level forum.”
The first forum should convene at the beginning of the 68th session of the UNGA, in September 2013, according to the outcome document.
A decision taken by the UNGA’s Second Committee on 30 November 2012 outlines the negotiation process for HLPF’s creation, beginning in January 2013 and concluding in May 2013, with a report from the UN Secretary-General on Member State and Major Group input requested to inform the debate. [Letter of UNGA President] [IISD RS Story on Second Committee Decision]