10 September 2013: The UN has released a new report compiling the results of national, global and online consultations with more than 1.3 million people on priorities for the post-2015 development agenda. Titled ‘A Million Voices: The World We Want,’ the report assesses the areas people see as central to the new development agenda, including inequality, governance and human rights.

The consultations have been underway since 2012 by the UN Development Group (UNDG), a group of 32 UN agencies and funds which organized online discussions, national consultations and surveys, as well as 11 global consultations on thematic issues. The consultations and surveys will continue until the end of 2015, UNDG notes, so that people’s opinions can feed into the intergovernmental process to set the post-2015 development agenda.

According to UNDG, calls for better education, improved health care services, honest and responsive governments, and jobs “dominated the discussions around the world.” The findings of the report will be presented on 23 September 2013 to world leaders during the 68th UN General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York.

Speaking at the report’s launch on 10 September 2013, in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said “the voices we need to hear from most are those of the people of the world, especially those that are usually unheard.” He underlined the need for the post-2015 development agenda to strengthen efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and create a more sustainable and peaceful world. Helen Clark, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), welcomed the views of those who participated in the global conversation. Clark emphasized the significance of the report for the intergovernmental process, stating “it is important that Member States, governments, hear the feedback from the consultations as they contemplate what the new development agenda should look like.”

Key messages from the report include: people want to play a part in shaping their world; complex challenges require a sustainable development agenda that is holistic and universal; people call for a focus on human rights, governance, and growing inequalities; and it is necessary for a new agenda to build on the work of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but to increase action. Participants also focused on the need to create limited and focused goals that can be measurable and applied to all countries.

The report includes a visual map of the demographics and answers to the ‘MY World’ survey, aggregated by country. [Publication: A Million Voices: The World We Want] [Results Map] [UN Press Release] [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [UN Women Press Release]