On December 8, the UNA Northern California Region will be holding a post-2015 Consultation in Berkeley where 80 people will attend an all day conference to develop input to the UN's post-2015 development goals process. The MDGs, the Millenium Development Goals, have played a role in shaping human development since the turn of the century. These goals are set to expire in 2015 and since 2012, the UN has been working towards a replacement set of goals for the period beyond 2015. The December 8 conference is sponsored by UNA-USA as part of our national UNA input to the global post-2015 process.
Leading up to the Dec 8 conference, UNA-SF will be holding a small Post-2015 Consultation of our own on November 20, venue tba. We are looking for thoughtful and knowlegeable participants. We will be breaking out into one or two small groups to discuss one of the following five broad objectives:
1. Leave no one behind – raise living standards & end extreme poverty for all, ensure universal rights & opportunities, close inequities & disparities; target the excluded, poorest & ‘bottom billion’ (including equality between women & men, better health care – & reproductive health; access to clean water & sanitation, good education, affordable & nutritious food, reliable energy, better transport & roads)
2. Put sustainable development at the core – steward the planet’s health and economic means for future generations, halt pace of environmental degradation (including climate change action; protect forests, rivers & oceans, & provide clean water and sanitation; reliable energy for all)
3. Transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth -- ensure economic opportunities and access to resources & means to improve livelihoods & end extreme poverty (include better job opportunities, good education, equality between women & men; access to adequate food, clean water & sanitation, health care, reliable energy, transport, phone & internet access; support to unemployed)
4. Build peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all – attain freedom from fear, conflict & violence; honest, accountable & responsive governments, transparency, rule of law, civil rights & access to justice (including honest & responsive government, political freedoms, protection against crime & violence, freedom from discrimination & persecution; access to information, phone & internet)
5. Forge a new global partnership – reinforce a shift toward cooperation, mutual accountability & mutual respect; recognize shared humanity, mutual benefits; institutional arrangements and involvement of all stakeholders - e.g. all countries’ governments & multilateral institutions, private sector, civil society, rich & poor, males & females, (encompassing the challenges & objectives noted above)
The above five broad objectives are from the conclusion of the report of 31 May, 2013, to the UN Secretary General, by the intergovernmental High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. They will form the basis of most of the December 8 Consultation.
For each group we need a moderator and someone with a computer to take complete notes. The notes will be transmitted first to the Dec 8 facilitators, and then to UNA-USA national to be digested for UNA-USA input to the global level.
Please, if you are interested to participate, be sure to read the 33 page Toolkit for Chapter Consultations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
There is a lot out there on the net about the post-2015 process. Listed below is a small sample of such articles. It will help if you take a look at these or other similar articles as well as reading the Toolkit, which is a must.
We are also going to take a few minutes to discuss progress towards a UNA SF Bay Area Council of Organizations (COO). Some of you attended our September 27 Get Acquainted Luncheon. Since then we have developed a website, sfbaycoo.org (which however is still in draft stages). The two main issues we need to discuss are 1) What should organizational membership in the COO entail? and 2) Shall we adopt a goal for the COO of organizing a grand UN 70th birthday bash for Oct 24, 2015?
On November 20, we meet at 6:00 and hope to be done by 8:30. Pizza and beer will be supplied. We are expecting between 8 and 20 people to participate. Here is the agenda:
6:00 - 6:15 - vote on which of the five areas we will discuss.
6:15 - 7:45 - break out into one or two discussion groups, each with a moderator and a note-taker.
7:45 - 7:50 - break and vote on the World we Want themes -- ballots will be provided
7:50 - 8:00 - a speaker for each group will summarize the discussion.
8:00 - 8:30 - discuss the two Council of Organization items: What does a COO organizational membership entail? and Should we adopt a COO goal of having a grand UN 70th celebration?
Please RSVP to Roger Eaton: rogerweaton@gmail.com. If you have an idea for an inexpensive venue (no more than $100), please let me know. Also, we need a couple people to volunteer to bring their laptops and take notes at the discussion session(s).
Finally, here are a number of articles about the post-2015 development goals. Most of these came from the UN Wire, and all are of interest. Your comments on the whole process are very welcome here on InterMix.
MDG Goal #5 - sex education and access to birth control - will it be continued into post-2015?
Here is a roadmap for converting equity principles into measurable post-2015 targets. If inequity within as well as between nations underlies the great difficulty the world is having coming to grips with extreme poverty, unsustainable economies, and war, as it seems, then we need to target inequity, but how?
The Case for Migration to be Included in the Post-2015 Goals - the death of 300 migrants when their ship capsized near Lampedusa has upped the priority.
The importance of inter-governmental cooperation in structuring the global partnership needed to reduce income inequality between nations.
Overview of input from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Working Group:
More on Sustainable Development Goals from a women's rights perspective
My World Global Survey - 16 themes provided by the UN. Ballots will be provided to register your vote.
I plan to post this message also in the UNA-SF group - apologies to those who will receive two copies.
atb,
Roger Eaton
rogerweaton@gmail.com
UNA-SF Communications Chair
415 933-0153
