12 May 2014: The draft “chapeau” for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been released by the UN Division for Sustainable Development (DSD). The Co-Chairs of the UN General Assembly Open Working Group (OWG) on SDGs announced on 9 May 2014, while concluding OWG 11, that it would be available imminently.

The two-page text begins with poverty eradication, which it calls the “greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” It includes reaffirmations of commitment to implement previous international agreements on sustainable development and the needs of countries in special situations.

It reaffirms the importance of peace, security, respect for human rights, good governance, and democratic societies.

It also reaffirms all principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, “including, inter alia, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” and that developing countries need additional resources for sustainable development.

The text also states that each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development, while recognizing the “need for significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources and the effective use of financing, in order to promote sustainable development.”

Fourteen footnotes cite paragraphs from the outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), ‘The Future We Want,’ as the sources for options in the draft chapeau.

OWG 11 took place on 5-9 May 2014, in New York, US. [Draft Chapeau] [DSD Webpage for OWG 11] [IISD RS Meeting Coverage]