New UN development goals must focus on rights and apply to all countries

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/25/new-development-goals-un-general-assembly

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The next set of development goals will be applicable to all countries and will be based on the principles of human rights, gender equality and the rule of law, UN member states have agreed.

In the outcome document on the concluding day of talks on global development at the UN's general assembly in New York this week, member states committed themselves on Wednesday to accelerating progress to achieve the eight millennium development goals (MDGs) by 2015, and then begin the process on creating a new set of targets that put poverty eradication and sustainable development at their centre.

The announcement follows more than a year of discussions on what should replace the MDGs when they expire. In theory, the MDGs are universal, but they have been billed as anti-poverty goals aimed at poor countries that are funded, rather than implemented, by wealthy nations.

The next set of goals will contain targets and indicators that all countries will be obliged to work towards.

The UN general secretary, Ban Ki-moon, said the post-2015 goals should particularly focus on improving the lives of marginalised groups, and empowering women. The framework "must be bold in ambition yet simple in design, supported by a new partnership for development … It must be universal in nature yet responsive to the complexities, needs and capacities of individual countries.

"It needs to be rights-based, with particular emphasis on women, young people and marginalised groups. And it must protect the planet's resources, emphasise sustainable consumption and production and support action to address climate change. Guided by this far-reaching vision, we can define a concise set of goals that will capture the imagination and mobilise the world, just as the MDGs have done.

The document states: "We are resolved that the post-2015 development agenda should reinforce the international community's commitment to poverty eradication and sustainable development.

"We underscore the central imperative of poverty eradication and are committed to freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency. Recognising the intrinsic linkage between poverty eradication and promotion of sustainable development, we underline the need for a coherent approach which integrates in a balanced manner the three dimensions of sustainable development. This coherent approach involves working towards a single framework and set of goals – universal in nature and applicable to all countries, while taking account of differing national circumstances and respecting national policies and priorities."

The goals should promote peace and security, democratic governance, the rule of law, gender equality and human rights for all, it added.

The announcement of a single set of goals will be welcomed by campaigners, anxious that the UN post-2015 process would work in parallel with the open working group set up in the light of the Rio+20 conference last year to come up with a set of sustainable development goals.

The UN document called on the working group to report back in September next year. It said intergovernmental negotiations on the future targets would then begin, with a new suite of goals presented to the general assembly for adoption in September 2015.

Member states also called for accelerated efforts to meet the MDGs over the next two years and called on donor countries to "urgently fulfil the ODA [overseas development assistance] commitments they have made, individually and collectively".

Agreeing a set of goals that seek to end poverty, address social concerns and protect the environment, and to which all countries will commit to, will be challenging.

The high-level panel set up by Ban last year – chaired by the UK, Liberia and Indonesia – devised 12 draft goals that included targets on health, education, the environment and women's empowerment, as well as access to justice, peace and security.

The panel's proposals are expected to go into the mix of the debate, but there are suggestions the outcomes from the working group on sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be pivotal to future negotiations.

Christian Aid welcomed the outcome document. Helen Dennis, its senior adviser on poverty and inequality, said: "It is extremely encouraging that governments have agreed that the new goals should include some absolutely crucial ingredients for a better future. The major breakthroughs include the recognition that all countries, including rich ones, should have to work towards the new goals and that there should be only one set of goals covering both poverty and environmental protection."

The Beyond 2015 campaign of civil society groups said in a statement that despite the positive noises made in the outcome document on human rights, peace and democratic government, it lacked the ambition needed to make changes.

"For more than two years, civil society has been insisting that a post-2015 agenda must address the structural causes of poverty and injustice by tackling inequality, gender injustice, social exclusion and skewed financial systems. This has to be based on human rights for all people.

"An approach that fails to tackle the root causes of deprivation through quick-fix solutions will be neither effective, sustainable nor legitimate.

Neva Frecheville, co-chair of Beyond 2015, said: "Governments need to start listening to the people and to raise the level of ambition in order to ensure that no one is left behind. Civil society around the world will not accept a framework which does not deal with the structural causes of poverty and injustice. The global community gets one chance for deep thought every 20 years – and this is it."

ActionAid's advocacy co-ordinator, Sameer Dossani, criticised the outcome document for lacking substance. "After all the debate and discussions, we are left with a document that is almost completely devoid of content. Ending poverty and inequality requires much more. The global economic model is failing, with increases in growth and profits hoarded by a few at the expense of the majority," she said.

"Genuine reform of tax policies would be a good first step for the global community to agree on. That would include cracking down on tax havens, taxing measures to increase corporate transparency, and revising tax treaties that allow for companies to declare income in countries other than those in which the income was earned.

"Such measures would help us to move from beyond the limited definition of extreme poverty as living on $1.25 per day, towards one that includes human rights, reducing inequality and universal access to services including healthcare and education."

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