May 2014: Ahead of the 11th session of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reports were issued by numerous development organizations, think tanks, academic, and civil society organizations, including on private sector involvement, education, nutrition, security and environmental sustainability in the SDGs and post-2015 development agenda.

Save the Children has proposed 12 development goals aimed at eliminating poverty in one generation. Goals include preventing violence, empowering women and girls, and making societies resilient to natural disasters.

A report from the 2013 Brookings Blum Roundtable on Global Poverty outlines how the private sector can contribute to the post-2015 development agenda. The report identifies areas where the business sector can contribute to development, without replacing transitional development actors.

The German Development Institute (DIE) released a report titled, ‘Post 2015: Peace, security and development belong together.’ The report examines the role of peace and security issues in the post-development agenda, proposing that the political obstacles to its inclusion be discussed at an early stage.

In an open letter to the OWG co-chairs, the Global Partnership for Education commits to implementing a strong development agenda for education, and calls for the agenda to be inclusive of children and youth, recognize the multiple dimensions of poverty, and have a foundational focus on education.

Bertelsmann Stiftung, Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and Novel Futures released ‘Sustaineo 2030,’ a novella imagining a country where all social, environmental, and economic systems are sustainable.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) issued a report on creating “aspirational yet attainable” goals and targets for the post-2015 development agenda. The report proposes adding a 10% “stretch” to every target, to encourage ambition. ODI also launched a blog series on ‘Southern voices on the post-2015 development agenda,’ which highlights input from commentators and scholars from the Global South.

The Road to Rio Global Nutrition Advocacy Group released a statement calling for nutrition issues to be included in the post-2015 development agenda. Key messages include: using a human rights approach to food security and nutrition; ensuring measurement and accountability for access to nutritious food; and reducing gender discrimination that leads to malnutrition.

Biovision and the Millennium Institute released a reaction to Focus Areas 2 of the Co-Chairs’ Working Document for OWG 11, on Sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition. The reaction calls for: transformational change in agriculture and food systems, to systems that are resilient, diverse, and productive; the realization of the right to adequate food for all; and a stand-alone goal on the topic, focusing on small-scale producers, ending hunger and malnutrition, inclusive decision-making, and reshaped trade systems.

OWG 11 takes place at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 5-9 May 2014. [Save the Children Publication: Framework for the Future: Ending Poverty in a Generation] [Brookings Report: Profitable Development Solutions: How the Private Sector Can Contribute to the Post-2015 Agenda][DIE Publication: Post 2015: Peace, security and development belong together] [Global Partnership for Education Open Letter] [Sustaineo 2030] [ODI Publication: Defining ‘aspirational yet attainable targets’ for new goals post-2015] [‘Southern Voices’ Blog] [Call to Action: Nutrition in the Post-2015 Development Agenda] [Reaction on Focus Area 2]