December 2012: The latest issue of the newsletter of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) highlights a live chat held recently on Facebook to update stakeholders about the post-2015 development agenda. It notes that many agree, with regard to possible goals, on several issues that are not adequately reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Efforts to make the post-2015 agenda-setting process inclusive also include the 11 thematic consultations established by the UN Development Group. It notes that DESA is currently engaged in all 11 consultations except the one on education. The newsletter notes that the website “World We Want 2015” is serving as the online platform for the consultations, and each thematic consultation has a different format, suited to its topic.

Each thematic consultation will organize one global thematic meeting to summarize and discuss its findings, hosted by a government in the global South and North.

The thematic consultations serve both to inform Member States’ decisions on the content of the post-2015 development agenda, and also to create ownership of the new agenda among stakeholders.

This issue of “DESA News” also highlights, inter alia, an interview with Luis Alfonso de Alba, Permanent Representative of Mexico and Vice President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). De Alba addressed questions submitted online ahead of ECOSOC’s Special Ministerial Meeting on 24 September 2012. [Publication: DESA News, Vol. 16, No.12]