26 February 2015: Effective, strengthened capacities and institutions are critical for implementing the post-2015 development agenda and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), participants stressed at a high-level meeting in Chisinau, Moldova. The meeting resulted in the Chisanu Outcome Statement on Strengthening Capacities and Building Effective Institutions, which calls for upgraded capacities and institutions to foster more effective, responsive governance.
The meeting marked the conclusion of six Global Dialogues organized by the UN Development Group (UNDG) on the means of implementation (MOI) and the post-2015 development agenda. National dialogues on capacities and institutions took place in Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Pakistan, Rwanda, Togo and Turkmenistan. The dialogues built on the first phase of UNDG consultations, which included 11 thematic consultations on the post-2015 development agenda.
Increased government, civil society and private sector capacity and more responsive institutions are critical to ensure the post-2015 development agenda’s successful implementation, stressed Cihan Sultanoglu, UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He said such issues are critical for “peace and security, democratic governance, rule of law and human rights for all.”
“Developing institutional capacity is not merely a political duty or a prerogative attributed to the central administration only, but it truly embodies the expectation of the population, which is ready and willing to contribute to development,” said Natalia Gherman, Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.
The Outcome states that “Inclusion should be the cornerstone of all capacity strengthening and institution building efforts, encouraging greater stakeholder engagement, participation and ownership in policy processes…and fostering accountability and trust in the public sector.”
It recommends, inter alia: upgraded, innovative and integrated institutions and capacities that are well-aligned with development priorities and planning processes at national and sub-national levels; coordinated institutions that respond to peoples’ needs and priorities at the national level; locally-driven and issue-oriented strategies, policies and solutions to strengthen capacities and institutions; greater accountability, transparency, professionalism and staff capacities in public administration systems; and coherent economic and labor market policies that encourage fair economic participation and inclusive, equal opportunities for all.
The Outcome Statement also recommends: strengthening capacity to empower local authorities and their associations; stimulating community participation in local development strategies; and encouraging governments to invest in capacities for sustainable development, including investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and e-governance initiatives. It stresses the importance of establishing suitable financing mechanisms to support strengthened capacities and effective institutions at all levels, including through localization of resources, and recommends considering this issue at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3).
Germany and Moldova hosted the High-Level Meeting of the Dialogue on Strengthening Capacities and Building Effective Institutions for the Implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which was co-facilitated by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). It convened from 25-26 February 2015. [UNDP Press Release] [Outcome Statement] [Website on Capacities and Institutions Dialogue]