14 January 2014: The Office of the President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has released a concept note on ‘The role of partnerships in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda,’ ahead of a thematic debate on this topic. The note describes national ownership and efforts as vital in achieving renewed commitments, and suggests that strengthened global partnerships for sustainable development can act as a catalyst for an ambitious, transformative sustainable development agenda.

The debate will be part of a series of three high-level events and three thematic debates that UNGA President John Ashe will host to encourage consensus building and concrete action on implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

This event, to be convened jointly with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), on 8-9 April 2014, will consider questions related to: lessons learned from implementing Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 8 (on a global partnership for development) and incentives to reinforce implementation; multi-stakeholder partnerships; governments’ role in incentivizing stakeholder engagement in implementing sustainable development, particularly from the private sector; and monitoring and accountability mechanisms. The event also aims to promote the urgent implementation of existing commitments under MDG 8.

The concept note includes a background section, debate objectives, and information on the format, expected outcome and participants in the debate. The President will issue a summary at the conclusion of the debate that will be shared with the UNGA’s Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICSDF).

President Ashe chose ‘The Post-215 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage!’ as the theme for the 68th Session of the UNGA. [UNGA President’s Website on Post-2015 Development Agenda and Related Events] [Publication: The role of partnerships in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda]