9 December 2013: The UN Development Group (UNDG) has produced the second edition of its ‘People’s Voices Issue Brief,’ conveying the views of people that contributed to consultations on the post-2015 development agenda at global, regional and national levels as well as through the MY World survey.

The brief is released ahead of the sixth meeting of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and focuses on agenda items for OWG 6: means of implementation, global partnership, needs of countries in special situations, human rights, and global governance.

With an emphasis on creating better and more participatory governance, the People’s Voices brief complements the Issue Briefs prepared by the experts of the UN Technical Support Team (TST).

According to the brief, consultation results show that people want “credible means to implement the future agenda,” so that its benefits are translated to the people. Participants from all regions of the survey called for universal human rights principles to underpin the new agenda, and some were optimistic about seeking new ways to address development through economic transformation.

Recommending an integrated approach to tackle global challenges, participants called for more coordinated, enabling global institutions and policies.

Participants underscored that official development assistance (ODA) is important, but should be diversified to add forms of development finance. Identifying technology transfer and knowledge sharing as key to growth, participants expressed concern about the impact of global trade on local livelihoods.

On the new global partnership, many participants supported multi-stakeholder partnerships as integrated approaches to deliver development results at all levels of governance. Responses also highlighted the role of South-South partnerships in delivering action on the new agenda.

Enhanced data and monitoring was a common theme from participants in order to track progress in a timely and comparable manner. A “data revolution” is seen as a way to create “new forms of accountability” for participatory monitoring of development progress. On human rights, participants stressed that a rights-based approach can empower civil society participation in governance and address inequalities.

The consultations led by UNDG have reached over 1.6 million people around the world, with a particular goal of including the voices of the poor and marginalized. [Publication: People’s Voices Issue Brief] [IISD RS Story on First Issue Brief] [Website for OWG-6] [World We Want 2015 Website]