4 February 2013: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Women, co-leaders of the Global Consultation on Inequalities in the post-2015 development agenda, provided a briefing for UN Member States and Observers at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 4 February 2013.

Carsten Staur, Permanent Representative of Denmark, highlighted that the High-level Leadership Meeting on Addressing Inequalities, to be held on 18-19 February 2013, in Copenhagen, Denmark, will be the first of a series of Leadership Meetings being organized by the 11 Global Thematic Consultations. He added that the thematic consultations supplement the national consultation process, and will feed into the reports of the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) and UN Secretary-General. He said the Draft Report on the Global Thematic Consultation on Inequalities, already made available for comments, is now being finalized and will be discussed during the Leadership Meeting. The final report is expected to be launched by 10 February 2013.

Richard Morgan, UNICEF Executive Office, speaking on behalf of UNICEF and UN Women, said key findings of the draft report show, inter alia, that: inequalities are a universal issue; the human rights framework and inequalities’ underlying factors should be taken into account; and a new development framework should try to develop indicators and targets that lead to disaggregated analysis.

Morgan added that 175 written submissions on Inequalities have been received on the World We Want 2015 platform, and ten e-discussions have been carried out on various aspects of inequalities.

Bani Dugal, Beyond 2015 Coalition, said the Inequalities Consultation has been structured in two parts: a first part based on paper submissions, and another part on e-discussions. She welcomed outreach on the part of the Thematic Consultation, noting that the process has been extensive and reached out to NGOs all over the world.

Rosa Lizarde, Feminist Task Force of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAAP), referred specifically to the Inequalities Consultation e-discussion on gender, noting that: the gender-based violence was the most commonly voiced issue. She also highlighted other priority areas including ensuring women reproductive rights, enacting and enforcing laws on women equality, ensuring good quality education and skills development as well as women’ s full participation in society.

In a question-and-answer session, participants raised the need to better address links between conflict and inequalities, and the inter-linkages between economic, social and environmental components of inequalities in the post-2015 agenda. Other discussion points included: taking into account indigenous peoples and minorities; providing better accessibility for persons with disabilities and ensuring participation of women in political life; addressing the violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people; considering inequalities that result from mining; and better addressing the impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups.

Inequalities is one of 11 themes being discussed in the UN Development Group’s (UNDG) global consultations on the post-2015 development agenda. Along with co-leaders UNICEF and UN Women, the consultation is being co-hosted by the Governments of Denmark and Ghana. [Inequalities Consultation Webpage] [Announcement of High-Level Leadership Meeting] [Publication: Draft Report on the Global Thematic Consultation on Inequalities] [IISD RS Story on Draft Report] [IISD RS Sources]