President’s Newsletter
July 2015
Dear all,
I am circulating a number of UN texts and responses to them by women’s and human rights international organisations that have to do with the negotiations taking place to prepare for the UN Summit to adopt the post-2015 Development Agenda which will take place in September.
Origins of the Sustainable Development Goals
In June 2012, governments and stakeholders came together in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – also referred to as Rio+20 or Earth Summit 2012, as a reference to the first conference held in Rio in 1992.
One of the most significant outcomes from Rio+20 was the agreement by governments to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process to develop a set of SDGs.
At Rio+20 countries resolved to establish an Open Working Group (OWG) of the General Assembly to propose a set of sustainable development goals and targets. The OWG proposed 17 Sustainable Goals (For further information see: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html).
The primary mechanism for civil society and other stakeholders to engage with the OWG is via the Major Groups system. The UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the nine Major Groups were introduced in Agenda 21, a voluntary action plan agreed by governments at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Major Groups represent nine sectors of society including women (WMG) that act as the main channels through which citizens and organisations can participate in UN activities to achieve sustainable development. The WMG is self-organised and open to all interested organisations working to promote human rights based sustainable development with a focus on women’s human rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality.
The Women’s Major Group elaborated 8 Red Flags for the set of Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the OWG (for further information, see Attachment “Women’s Coalition - 8 Red Flags”).
In Sep 2013 governments agreed to bring the two tracks of the post-2015 development agenda, the post- Millennium Development Goals track and the Sustainable Development Goals track, together into a single framework and a single set of global goals. In November 2014, the UN Secretary General produced a synthesis report that pulled together the full range of inputs from both tracks (Attachment “UN Secretary General Synthesis Report”).
The Post-2015 Human Rights Caucus elaborated a number of points as a response to the synthesis report. In particular, it stressed that “the absolute imperative to tackle gender inequality in all its forms and realize women’s and girls’ rights is not adequately underlined in the report. Gender equality and the fulfillment of women’s rights are not acknowledged as essential structural components of sustainable development, nor as core human rights priorities in themselves, regardless of how instrumental they may be to economic prosperity” (Attachment “HR Caucus Response to SG Synthesis Report”).
1. The process for finalising the SDGs and giving definite shape to the post-2015 development agenda has intensified in 2015 with many meetings and consultations taking place in New York.
The basic text for the negotiations is theZero draft text "Transforming our World by 2030 - A new agenda for global action" (Attachment 1). The document, aside from an Introduction and outline of our world today, is structured in three constitutive parts.
· Part I: Sustainable Development Goals and Targets (17 in total)
· Part II: Means of Implementation and the Global Partnership
· Part III: Follow-Up and Review at the national, regional and global level
2. A number of big international organisations elaborated responses to the Zero Draft. I will refer to theresponse by ARROW, the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women which IAW endorsed (Attachment 2). According to ARROW, the Zero Draft document "still needs a lot of work to reflect a truly ambitious and transformative sustainable development agenda towards a world we want that leaves no one behind".
General comments of the ARROW response document include:
· The outcome document must “address power imbalances and structural barriers, which are the root causes of inequalities within and between countries, and of economic and social inequalities and injustices, including gender inequality amongst others. The call to change fundamental systems such as neo-liberal globalization and patriarchy is currently absent from the document”.
· The targets “under means of implementation should always be tied back to the achievement of targets under the goals and not seen as separate targets to achieve these goals”.
· The document further voices a concern that while the role of business and the private sector, as well as of public-private partnerships in implementing the SDGs has prominently been highlighted, this is “not matched with appropriate accountability measures to ensure that any such actions should adhere to human rights standards, and be age, disability, and gender-responsive. This should also be matched with grievance mechanisms in cases of violations of human rights, including women’s human rights”.
· “Achieving gender equality has to be considered integral to achieving sustainable development and it cannot be separated from it, and as such it has to be integrated in all goals. Gender equality cannot be achieved without ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights of all women”.
· “Member states should adhere to the spirit of participation and accountability and report regularly (at least 5 times in 15 years) on the implementation of the post-2015 development framework. The process should ensure that critical feedback is given by civil society at all levels.”
3. A second response to the Zero Draft document has been by UN Women (Attachment 3). Key messages of the document include:
· “UN Women welcomes the proposed sustainable development goal 5 on “achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls” as well as gender-sensitive targets in other goals.”
· “Gender equality perspectives must be reflected in all elements of the post-2015 development agenda – the declaration, goals and targets, means of implementation, global partnership, follow-up and review.”
· “In order for the post-2015 development agenda to be transformative, it must be based on human rights and ensure that goals and targets are underpinned by the principles of equality and non-discrimination.”
· “A transformative post-2015 development agenda requires: renewed political will; significantly increased and transformative financing for gender equality from all sources of funding; increased investments in statistical capacities and gender statistics to support effective monitoring; and strong accountability mechanisms at national, regional and global levels that clearly set the responsibilities of all stakeholders and provide avenues for women and men to hold decision-makers answerable for their actions and seek redress where necessary.”
· “Civil society organizations, including women’s organizations, play an important role in advocating for action, monitoring progress and holding governments and other actors to account for their commitments. It is important that space and resources are consistently and systematically provided for civil society, grassroots and local organizations and individuals to participate in the implementation, follow up and review of the post-2015 DA at local, national, regional and global levels.”
4. The Women’s Major Group has elaborated “10 Red Flags for the Zero Draft of the Outcome Document for the UN Summit to Adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda” (Attachment 4).
The 10 Red Flags are the following:
1. Gender equality and the human rights of women and girls must be recognized as a cross-cutting issue critical for the success of the post-2015 development agenda
2. Commitments to human rights and inclusivity must be strengthened
3. Commitments to civil society and major group participation must be strengthened
4. The role of feminist and women’s organisations must be recognized and supported
5. The role of the private sector must be regulated and its social, economic and environmental impacts assessed and remedied where appropriate
6. The Political Declaration must emphasise commitments to the wellbeing of people and the planet
7. The Vision and the Call for Action need to acknowledge the way in which the current economic model has contributed to inequalities and environmental degradation
8. The goals and targets proposed by the Open Working Group should be fully endorsed, and there should be a clear path to devise ambitious indicators for the SDGs
9. Means of Implementation must be prioritised for the Post-2015 agenda
10. The commitments to monitoring, review and accountability must outline comprehensive processes for national, regional and global reviews
On 2 August 2015, the draft outcome document of the United Nations Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” was agreed by consensus by the member States of the United Nations. The document can be found at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/7891Transforming%20Our%20World.pdf.
5. Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development and Financing (ICESDF).
Heads of State and Government agreed at Rio+20 to establish the ICESDF to evaluate and propose options for effective financing for sustainable development. The ICESDF report has been one of the inputs in the UN Secretary-General post-2015 synthesis report (Attachment 5).
Soroptimist International and ZONTA International have circulated a document concerning the integration of gender equality into financing for development (Attachment 6) which discusses the Addis Ababa Accord Zero Draft for the Third International Meeting of Financing for Development in July 2015 (Attachment 7). Important points in the document include:
· “Making gender equality a reality and realising women’s and girls’ human rights is critical for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Equally, achieving the SDGs will not happen without thorough and accountable Financing for Development (FfD) and Methods of Implementation (MoI)”
· “All countries hold the same responsibility to ensure the full implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda within their own borders, and to support other countries in achieving the SDGs which includes reaffirming and contributing to the fulfilment of gender equality.”
· Concerning Gender Mainstreaming, the document argues that “persistent and chronic underinvestment in gender equality and women’s empowerment has exacerbated development limitations. Therefore, FfD must reinforce the consideration that women and girls are at a higher risk of being left behind. Gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the full realisation of their human rights is critical to sustainable development across all countries.”
Finally, the Soroptimist and ZONTA document makes some additional points on the language of the discussed Zero draft:
· “The human rights of all people, let along marginalised groups including women, are never mentioned directly in the Zero Draft. Given the critical relationship between Financing for Development, the Post-2015 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, this is unacceptable.”
· “Current references to rights (in paragraphs 33 and 35), and the focus on businesses in the Zero Draft, provides substance to the concern that the private sector is being prioritised over the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups.”
· “It is worrying that the Zero Draft does not reference the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, despite alluding to the role of Financing for Development in realising social development, including social protection floors.”
6. Programme on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (PWESCR) has published "Financing for Development: Addis Ababa and Beyond- Feminist Perspective from the Global South" in the context of preparatory debates on the Financing for Development. The direct Link to this document: http://pwescr.org/Financing_for_Development_AABFPGS.pdf.
Stating FfD as a feminist issue, the brief argues that for financing to be effective in reducing poverty and delivering sustainable development, it needs to benefit women and men equally and contribute to empowering women and building equitable societies. The gendered division of labour, particularly unpaid work and gender-based labour market segregation, is not addressed properly in current discussions on FfD.
The Third International Conference on Financing for Development which took place in Addis Ababa, 13-16 July 2015, adopted an Outcome Document: Addis Ababa Action Agenda which can be found at: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/CONF.227/L.1.
7. Information on the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF):
The High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is the main United Nations platform dealing with sustainable development, and was formally established in July 2013. It meets every year under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, and every four years under the auspices of the General Assembly. The HLPF will be the body responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs and the post-2015 Development Agenda.
Major Groups and other stakeholders have been granted comprehensive participatory opportunities in the HLPF through the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/67/290.
For further information, see:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/majorgroups/hlpf