August 2014: Civil society groups and others continue to react to the 17 proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through blog posts, reviews and statements. Others have begun to reflect more broadly on the post-2015 development agenda, considering next steps in the negotiations and highlighting areas that will need to be addressed by the framework.
The outcome document of the UN Open Working Group (OWG) on the SDGs “contains glaring omissions, gaps and provisions with potentially deleterious implications that need to be criticized and opposed,” according to a statement released by the Campaign for Peoples’ Goals. The Campaign laments: poverty and inequality targets for failing to address income redistribution; the lack of a stand-alone goal on social protection; and the absence of targets on holding global atmospheric temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius, phasing out fossil fuels, regulation and governance of synthetic biology and ending foreign occupation. The statement concludes that the outcome document falls short of advocating for structural reforms on the roots of ecological disasters, injustice and marginalization.
The Center on International Cooperation (CIC) reflects on future negotiations on the post-2015 framework, suggesting three possible outcomes of the September 2015 Summit: adoption of the goals proposed by the OWG while leaving the targets to be further refined; endorsement of the goals and targets and possibly the means of implementation (MOI); or reformulation of goals and targets. CIC also highlights “contentious issues” that could resurface in negotiations, including the absence of targets on illegal unilateral sanctions and foreign occupation, and the inclusion of target 5.6 on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and its reference to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), as well as the target on rule of law in Goal 16.
“Politics is prioritization,” Development Progress asserts in the final post of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) blog series on development finance, addressing the setting of priorities to pay for international development. The blog highlights the importance of, inter alia: identifying the most important issues, including managing structural issues; ensuring achievability when prioritizing development finance commitments and goals; allocating resources and time appropriately; and reaffirming the importance of international public action to achieve collectively agreed objectives. Development Progress concludes that the world needs “a prioritized plan of action with a specific timeframe for changes in global finance.”
Development Progress’ first post in its blog series on youth priorities for post-2015 reiterates the leading priorities among young people, drawing on the MY World survey and global, regional and national consultations: a good education; better healthcare; an honest and responsive government; and better job opportunities. It notes that youth are more likely to prioritize equality between men and women. Other youth priorities include youth empowerment, climate change, environmental sustainability, food security and access to social justice for and protection of minorities and vulnerable groups, according to the blog, which concludes by calling for building inclusivity into the future goals.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) released a briefing note, ‘Monitoring and Reporting on SDGs: Cross-scale linkages.’ The paper discusses: monitoring and reporting challenges, such as balance between maintaining continuity and facilitating innovation; opportunities for advancing a global measurement reform; preparations for SDG monitoring and reporting at international, national and sub-national scales; and implications for national sustainable development strategy (NSDS) practitioners and networks.
In a blog post, Participate highlights priorities for the post-2015 agenda from Ground Level Panels (GLP) it conducted in 2013 between those living in poverty and those with political authority in Egypt, Brazil, Uganda and India. The Panel process provided a “critical review and reality check” regarding the five transformative shifts proposed by the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP). GLP participants highlighted empowerment and self management as critical for moving beyond aid in the post-2015 agenda.
In a blog post on Post2015.org, Amanda Glassman, Center for Global Development, outlines four areas of action to support a country-driven, bottom-up data revolution: creating post-2015 ‘quick wins’ that could strengthen existing data to serve as a baseline for post-2015 goals; modernizing National Statistics Development Strategies (NSDS), following guidelines developed by Paris21; launching political, financial and technical compacts for better data; and empowering collaboratives to address multi-country issues. Potential quick wins include deploying analytical techniques such as small area estimation to produce estimates for marginalized groups.
In another Post2015.org blog, the Executive Director of the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability in India highlights governance capacity as a key determinant in translating development policies and resources into results and outcomes. He explains that even an accountable, inclusive, transparent government apparatus cannot fulfill its responsibilities if it lacks an adequate number of skilled staff, and stresses that current proposals on the post-2015 agenda have not sufficiently addressed capacity issues. He recommends that the future goals address resource mobilization and support progressive tax regimes in developing countries.
Righting Finance posted a commentary, ‘Financing Post-2015: Lowdown on the UN Expert Committee’s Report,’ which reviews the final report of the UN Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing’s (ICESDF). Righting Finance supports several of the report’s proposals, including that governments: prioritize progressive and equitable tax policies; aim for universal social service provisions, particularly for the most marginalized; consider social protection floors; expand the scope and scale of financial services offered to the poor and others; support strengthened financial literacy and consumer protection; and strengthen international tax cooperation. It further recommends focusing official development assistance (ODA) on countries with the greatest needs and weakest capacity to raise resources, such as LDCs and SIDS. Righting Finance says the real challenge will be ensuring implementation of such policies and actions.
The Chief Executive Officer of SOS Children’s Villages USA recommends the post-2015 agenda “ensure children and families in need have access to social and medical services necessary to overcome life’s challenges” in an article on The Huffington Post. She further recommends ensuring: children’s and youth access to quality education and vocational training and decent work and livelihood opportunities; and the right of all children to grow and develop in an environment safe from violence.
Although the OWG proposed a “comprehensive and potentially transformative agenda,” there is considerable room for improvement, including on making the goals and targets more explicitly universal, specific and measurable, according to a blog post by the World Resources Institute (WRI). WRI poses five questions to consider during negotiations before the September 2015 Summit, related to: improving the lack of specificity, focus and integration across the proposed framework while preserving consensus; addressing issues related to climate change, rule of law and peaceful societies and sexual and reproductive rights; turning rhetoric on universality into tangible, substantial commitments by all countries; elaborating the capacity development, financing, policy, trade and technology measures for implementing the post-2015 agenda; and packaging and communicating the agenda.
In a submission to the President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on the stocktaking process on the post-2015 agenda, the UN Association of Venezuela calls for a stand-alone goal on peace, human security, conflict prevention and good governance. It emphasizes peace, human security and conflict prevention as pillars to achieve and accelerate sustainable development, noting that crime, violence, insecurity and political conflict have the potential to undermine development gains, including those on education, health, nutrition and poverty reduction. The Association also highlights the need to include and empower youth in decision-making processes as “the most powerful weapon against poverty.”
The Universal Access Project issued five briefing cards on SRHR and the post-2015 development agenda, which state that “the full achievement of SRHR for all is integral to the achievement of all shared global development goals.” The Project recommends the post-2015 agenda prioritize SRHR including for youth, comprehensively address universal access to SRHR beyond access to family planning, and ensure SRHR is represented under all relevant goals. The cards address: education; economic benefits; the broader health agenda; gender equality; and the environment, including the relationship between women’s health and the environment, SRHR and food security and SRHR and climate change adaptation and mitigation. [Campaign for Peoples Goals for Sustainable Development Statement] [CIC Blog] [Development Progress Finance Blog] [Development Progress Youth Blog] [IISD Publication Page] [Participate Blog] [Post2015.org Blog on Data Revolution] [Post-2015.org Blog on Capacity] [Righting Finance Blog] [SOS Children’s Villages USA Article] [WRI Blog] [Universal Access Project Briefing Cards] [IISD RS Previous Story on OWG Reactions] [IISD RS Sources]