Looking Past The MDGs Toward a New Global Agenda

The deadline to meet the Millennium Developmental Goals is only three years away, causing many UN officials to reflect. The ability to achieve these goals is still a matter of much debate, as countries who have pledged help are now falling short of in their promises.

However, the question raised during this year's General Assembly is the matter of what should be done once the deadline has been reached and the goals (ideally) met? This was the matter at hand for the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda held at UNHQ on September 25.

Hosted by the Permanent Mission of Japan, the panel was composed of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark, Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning Amina J. Mohammed, and led by Minister of Foreign Affairs in Japan Koichiro Gemba. While there was importance placed on the fulfillment of the MDGs by the allotted time, the event was meant to invite high-level stakeholders, NGOs, and private foundations to discuss and establish a new global agenda, hopefully to be built upon the success of the MDGs.

"Achieving the MDGs we have is still a top priority," declared Clark. "The international willingness to support a new Global Agenda will be influenced by how successful the MDG process has been seen to be."

Panelists brought forth evidence for newfound ideas based on what has already been working in favor of achieving the goals. The presentations underlined the status of the current hard work, and also reinforced the idea that those who wish for change cannot afford to wait for a recipe to be formulated.

"The evidence of what has worked in MDG achievement needs to inform the Post-2015 agenda," Clark stated. The UN task team proposed three main principles, based on global trends, for the post-2015 agenda: "Achieving human rights, reducing inequality, and ensuring sustainability." Panelists decided that proposals for future goals should be limited and concrete so as to better achieve economic and social development, environmental sustainability, peace, and security.

To reach consensus about the future goals, many of the contributions that have been discussed within the UN forums and Rio+20 conference will contribute to the new agenda. However, Ms. Clark highlighted the importance of the participatory process on a worldwide scale.

"We also need to find ways to fully incorporate the voices and priorities of the world's citizens, civil society groups, and independent experts," Clark said. "To these ends, the UN development group has begun a rather large consultation exercise, with national level dialogues being organized in at least 50 developing countries."

Clark and Mohammed both expressed their hope for constructive dialogue and discussions in order to contribute to an ambitious post-2015 Development Agenda that aims at eradicating poverty, building a greener environment, and reach a more equitable future for the world's peoples.

(sumber : blog.mediaglobal.org)