By Bhumika Muchhala (Third World Network)
The United Nations General Assembly negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda kicked off on 19-21 January 2015 with Member States putting forward the broad contours of what they envision for the next 15 years of international development cooperation. Read more…
Twenty-two UN independent human rights rapporteurs wrote to the Rio+20 Summit that “real risk exists that commitments made in Rio will remain empty promises without effective monitoring and accountability.” This danger also exists for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Could Universal Periodic Reviews (UPRs) of SDG progress be the answer?
Read and analysis on this question by Roberto Bissio (Social Watch) in a new briefing paper for Future United Nations Development System. Read more… / Spanish version
The change in the current development paradigm that the leaders of the world are going to approve next September will require bold reforms and policy shifts. Can they be accomplished without involving Finance Ministers? Read more… / Spanish version
The concept of Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSD) is being promoted as an alternative to the current Official Development Assistance (ODA). Is this going to put more money on the table or just “creative accounting” to meet the commitments made by developed countries without paying? Read more… / Spanish version
Par Barbara Adams, Gretchen Luchsinger
L’année 2015 est une année cruciale. Le programme de développement durable pour l’après 2015 en cours d’élaboration, est fondé sur la réalité selon laquelle le modèle actuel ne fonctionne pas, compte tenu de l’aggravation des inégalités et d’avoir pousser à l’extrême les éléments essentiels à la survie de notre planète. Les pays, les peuples, ainsi que la planète de laquelle nous dépendons, méritent un autre modèle, de meilleure qualité et qui soit inclusif et durable. Read more…
By Barbara Adams, Gretchen Luchsinger
Download this briefing (pdf, 150 KB)
This document is also available in Spanish and in French.
2015 is a pivotal year. The post–2015 sustainable development agenda currently being drafted is premised on the reality that the present model of development is not working, given worsening inequalities and straining planetary boundaries. All countries and peoples—and the planet on which we depend–have the right to live with a better model, one that is inclusive and sustainable. Read more… / Spanish version
As of 1 January 2019, the name of the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) has changed and is now Department of Global Communications. The new name anticipates the new ways of working underscoring the interactivity and co-operation in information management between the United Nations and its stakeholders. Due to the expansion of activities of our Unit, NGO Relations (DPI NGO) is changing its name to become Civil Society Unit. The Liaison functions of the former Non-governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) are a new addition to the Unit which will allow for a well-rounded coordination of the civil society engagement in the United Nations activities. https://outreach.un.org/ngorelations/
UN General Assembly Adopts 1st Resolution on Sexual Harassment
The resolution, passed by the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, urges states to take effective action to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment against women and girls, to address structural and underlying causes and risk factors, and to protect victims of all forms of violence, including sexual harassment. It calls on states to take necessary measures to ensure that employers in all sectors are held accountable when they fail to abide by laws and regulations addressing sexual harassment.
The text calls on states to encourage digital technology companies, including internet service providers and digital platforms, to strengthen or adopt positive measures with a view to eliminating violence and sexual harassment in digital contexts. It also urges states to ensure the promotion and protection of the human rights of all women and their sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights. As the committee debated, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized in his remarks commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that violence against women and girls was a “global pandemic”. “Not until the half of our population represented by women and girls can live free from fear, violence and everyday insecurity, can we truly say we live in a fair and equal world.”
A strong and dynamic World Health Organisation (WHO) is critical for the achievement of the SDGs, especially SDG 3 on health and well-being. The WHO constitution mandates the organization “to act as the directing and co-ordinating authority on international health work”. However, its ability to fulfill this mandate is circumscribed by the nature of its financial resources. WHO’s biennial budget for 2018-2019 is US$ 4.42 billion, 2 just over a quarter of the total sales of the top-selling medicine Humira (Adalimumab) in 2016 (US$ 16.08 billion).
In part this is because many of the organization’s donors share the view that WHO may not need a huge budget to carry out its constitutional mandate, which mainly consists of setting norms and standards in the area of public health. However, a large part of the organization’s spending in 2016-2017 went to activities related to service delivery rather than to norms and standard setting. For example, US$ 1.16 billion (25.67%) was spent on its polio eradication programme. Read more at https://www.2030spotlight.org/en/book/1730/chapter/sdg-3-need-strengthen-public-funding-who
SPOTLIGHT Enfoques sobre Desarrollo Sostenible
El informe de este año consta de tres partes: La primera parte engloba dos artículos que resumen las principales conclusiones de las contribuciones a este informe y los mensajes de los informes nacionales de la sociedad civil. La segunda parte se centra en cinco capítulos sobre áreas transversales de reforma política que demuestran las interrelaciones entre varios ODS, la necesidad de “des-compartimentar” los enfoques políticos actuales y de promover políticas que sean verdaderamente coherentes en aras del desarrollo sostenible, los derechos humanos y la justicia de género. La tercera parte incluye 17 enfoques breves sobre los ODS que destacan una selección de ejemplos de buenas o malas políticas en función de objetivos específicos.
El informe cuenta con el apoyo de una amplia gama de organizaciones de la sociedad civil y sindicatos, enumerados como socios. También se basa en las experiencias y los informes de grupos y coaliciones nacionales y regionales de todas partes del mundo. Las contribuciones cubren muchos aspectos de la Agenda 2030 y de los ODS (y más), y reflejan la rica diversidad geográfica y cultural de sus autores. Pero lo que todas las contribuciones tienen en común es la convicción de que el mundo todavía está lejos de alcanzar el desarrollo sostenible y que son necesarios —y posibles— cambios fundamentales en las políticas y enfoques para desplegar el potencial transformador de los ODS.
The United Nations and system organizations should engage with donors in a dialogue at the strategic level for the adoption of donor reporting templates and accommodating the common information needs, demands and requirements of donors and the regulatory frameworks and capacities of the organizations.
This is one of the main recommendations highlighted in a new report by the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), an independent external oversight body of the United Nations system, reviewing donor reporting requirements across the UN system.
The JIU review focused on the United Nations system organizations that have the highest number of donor reports and on the 16 major donors to the United Nations system, including the European Commission. Read More.
