20 February 2015: The second session of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda focused on the declaration component of the outcome that will be adopted at the Summit of Heads of State and Government on the post-2015 development agenda in September 2015. A summary of the discussion will be produced by the Secretariat, for reference, while the “discussion document” circulated and discussed during the meeting remains “a document without status” but will assist in creating the zero draft of the Summit outcome, according to the Co-Facilitators.

The session convened from 17-20 February 2015, at UN Headquarters in New York, US, and was co-facilitated by David Donoghue, Permanent Representative of Ireland, and Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya.

The discussion began with Member States’ responses to the 5 February Elements Paper of the Co-Facilitators, after which they produced a “discussion document for the declaration,” which was also discussed.

Also during the session, Major Groups and other stakeholders interacted with Member States to offer their suggestions and priorities for the Declaration of the new agenda, and the Director of the UN Statistics Division gave a briefing on the development of indicators for the goals and targets.

Kamau, reflecting on recent acts of terrorism and violence around the world, most recently on citizens of Denmark and Egypt, urged delegates to reach an understanding of “how we wish to break with the past.… We need a declaration that is visionary about a different future for us.” The week’s discussions sought to establish common ground over just how to move away from the past, and how a transformed world should look.

The negotiation process will resume in March with a session on the SDGs, targets and indicators. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage (Summary and Analysis)] [IISD RS Meeting Coverage (Daily Highlights and Photos)] [UN Website on Post-2015 Process] [IISD RS Sources]