Barbara Adams, with the Global Policy Forum, talked about the money the U.S. contributes to the United Nations and how that amount compares to contributions by other countries. She also discussed the efficiency of U.N. programs.
This program was part of C-SPAN’s “Your Money” series. Each Monday morning the last hour of “Washington Journal” is devoted to a federal program, focusing on its mission, participants, and cost.
By Roberto Bissio
Last August 2 in New York, the United Nations agreed on the new sustainable development agenda as the guide for their global, regional and national policies over the coming fifteen years.
At the core of this new global consensus, seventeen “sustainable development goals” (SDGs) spell out a vision for a better future where poverty everywhere will be eradicated, inequalities within and between countries will be substantially reduced, and current unsustainable consumption and production patterns will be transformed. Read more…
By Barbara Adams
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) negotiated painstakingly over two years by all UN Member States with thousands of public interest organizations providing their commitment and expertise have been copyrighted. And by whom? The UN you would think? But no. They have been re-branded as Global Goals (GGs) and the copyrighted by Project Everyone, a private company incorporated and registered in London. Read more…
New York City, 22 September 2015. More than a hundred Heads of State and Government will gather in New York this week to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda is intended to make the UN ‘fit for purpose’, but it is important to ask, ‘whose purpose will it be fit for’? Read more…
“The UN must champion a process of truth and reconciliation” in development, said Barbara Adams, on behalf of Global Policy Forum and Social Watch during a round table at the United Nations in New York. Adams emphasised that “those who have benefitted the most from the past and current model are those that need to change the most”. Read more…
On September 10, 2015, the international community must take an important step towards better prevention and resolution of sovereign debt crises. Adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution “Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes” would be a milestone towards ensuring that debt crises can be tackled in a timely, orderly, effective and fair manner. An international coalition of civil society organisations working on debt justice urges representatives of European countries at the United Nations to vote in favour of this Resolution. Read more …
The 2030 Agenda requires mobilization of resources, some of which are considered hidden due to lack of policies. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2014 estimated that: US$5–7 trillion a year is needed to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the action plan of the 2030 Agenda. The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF) calculated US$80–90 trillion in untapped assets for investment and offered blended financing as a major vehicle for ‘crowding in’ corporate funds. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed said in her first address as DS-G in New York: “Bringing partnerships and agencies together in a coherent and more coordinated manner will further leverage resources and different partnerships in a mobile [development] agenda, this is becoming more complex but it is bringing in more returns.” Is this sustainable development or business development?
The final unedited version of the Secretary-General’s report on the repositioning of the UN development system, as a follow-up to General Assembly resolution 71/243 on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of United Nations operational activities for development (QCPR), offers the Secretary-General’s vision on the repositioning of the UN development system to effectively support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and responds to the mandates contained in GA/RES/71/243 due by June 2017. The report is the product of extensive consultations with Member States, the UN development system and other stakeholders, and has benefited from in-depth analysis of relevant studies and data on the system’s present functions and capacities to support the 2030 Agenda. Per operative paragraph 45, the Joint Inspection Unit was consulted on options for improving the accountability and overall coordination of the entities of the United Nations development system and their oversight by Member States found at https://www.un.org/ecosoc/sites/www.un.org.ecosoc/files/files/en/qcpr/sg-report-jiu-contribution.pdf. The Secretary-General’s report and all relevant documents are also available on the QCPR website at https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/node/1213351. A consultants report was supplementally released found at https://www.un.org/ecosoc/sites/www.un.org.ecosoc/files/files/en/qcpr/sg-report-dalberg_unds-outline-of-functions-and-capacities-june-2017.pdf.