In the United Nations, the Post-2015 Development Agenda was a set of talks and discussions that led to the creation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, encompassing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This replaced the Millennium Development Goals which ended in 2015.
In January 2013, the 30-member UN General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals was established to identify specific goals for the SDGs. The Open Working Group (OWG) was tasked with preparing a proposal on the SDGs for consideration during the 68th session of the General Assembly, September 2013 – September 2014. On 19 July 2014, the OWG forwarded a proposal for the SDGs to the Assembly. After 13 sessions, the OWG submitted their proposal of 8 SDGs and 169 targets to the 68th session of the General Assembly in September 2014. On 5 December 2014, the UN General Assembly accepted the secretary general's Synthesis Report, which stated that the agenda for the post-2015 SDG process would be based on the OWG proposals.
Background In 1972, governments met in Stockholm, Sweden, for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment to consider the rights of the family to a healthy and productive environment.
The current UN development agenda is centred on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were officially established following the Millennium Summit of the UN in 2000. The MDGs encapsulate eight globally agreed goals in the areas of poverty alleviation, education, gender equality and empowerment of women, child and maternal health, environmental sustainability, reducing HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, and building a global partnership for development. The MDG's overall target date is 2015.Background page, United Nations Millennium Development Goals website, retrieved 4 February 2013.
At the 2010 High-Level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly to review progress towards the MDGs, governments called for accelerating progress and for thinking on ways to advance the development agenda beyond 2015.General Assembly resolution 65/1 of 19 September 2010, retrieved 4 February 2013. After the 2010 High-Level Plenary Meeting, the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has taken several initiatives. He has established a UN System Task Team, launched a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons and appointed Amina J. Mohammed as his own Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning.Secretary-General appoints Amina J. Mohammed of Nigeria as special adviser on post-2015 development planning, Press release of the United Nations Department of Public Information, retrieved 4 February 2013. These processes are complemented by a set of eleven global thematic consultations and national consultations in 88 countries] facilitated by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG).
The Rio+20 outcome document mentioned that "at the outset, the OWG [Open Working Group] will decide on its methods of work, including developing modalities to ensure the full involvement of relevant stakeholders and expertise from civil society, Indigenous Peoples, the scientific community and the United Nations system in its work, in order to provide a diversity of perspectives and experience".
The gaps and shortcomings of MDG Goal 8 (To develop a global partnership for development) led to identifying a problematic "donor-recipient" relationship. Instead, the new SDGs favor collective action by all countries.
Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda began in January 2015 and ended in August 2015. The negotiations ran in parallel to United Nations negotiations on financing for development, which determined the financial means of implementing the Post-2015 Development Agenda; those negotiations resulted in the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in July 2015.
The United Nations Task Team The UN System Task Team was established by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support UN system-wide preparations for the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda. It comprises 60 UN agencies, as well as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.Members of the UN System Task Team, United Nations Development Policy and Analysis Division, retrieved 4 February 2013. In June 2012, it published the report "Realizing the Future We Want for All" which serves as an input to the work of the High-Level Panel.Realizing the Future We Want for All - Report to the Secretary-General, United Nations Millennium Development Goals website, retrieved 4 February 2013.
High-level panel of eminent persons On 31 July 2012, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed 27 civil society, private sector, and government leaders from all regions of the world to a High-Level Panel (HLP) to advise him on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.UN Secretary-General appoints high-level panel on post-2015 development agenda, United Nations Press Release, retrieved 4 February 2013. Members of the panel include: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (co-chair), President of Indonesia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (co-chair), President of Liberia David Cameron (co-chair), Prime Minister of United Kingdom Fulbert Gero Amoussouga, economic advisor of the president of Benin Izabella Teixeira, Minister for the Environment of Brazil Yingfan Wang, Member of the Secretary-General's MDG Advocacy Group, China María Ángela Holguín, Foreign Minister of Colombia Gisela Alonso, president of the Agency of Environment of Cuba Jean-Michel Severino, former director general of the French Development Agency Horst Köhler, Former IMF managing director and former president of Germany Naoto Kan, Former prime minister of Japan Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Queen of Jordan Betty Maina, chief executive of the Association of Manufacturers of Kenya Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, from India Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development from Latvia Patricia Espinosa, Foreign Minister of Mexico Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, from the Netherlands Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria Elvira Nabiullina, economic advisor to the Russian president Graça Machel, Member of The Elders, South Africa Sung Hwan Kim, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Sweden Emília Pires, Minister of Finance of Timor-Leste Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey John Podesta, chair of the Center for American Progress, United States of America Tawakkol Karman, journalist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Yemen Amina J. Mohammed, Nigeria (ex officio, special adviser of Ban Ki-moon)The Secretary-General's high-level panel of eminent persons on the post-2015 development agenda, United Nations, retrieved 4 February 2013.
The HLP's work is guided by 24 framing questions.Framing Questions, United Nations, retrieved 4 February 2013. It held its first meeting on 25 September 2012 on the margins of the annual high level debate of the UN General Assembly and it submitted its recommendations on how to arrive at an agreement on the post-2015 agenda to the Secretary-General in May 2013. The terms of reference of the HLP include the consideration of the findings of the national and thematic consultations at regional and national levels.
High-level panel's report
On 30 May 2013, the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda released "A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development," a report which sets out a universal agenda to eradicate extreme poverty from the face of the earth by 2030, and deliver on the promise of sustainable development. The report calls upon the world to rally around a new Global Partnership that offers hope and a role to every person in the world.
In the report, the Panel calls for the new post-2015 goals to drive five big transformation shifts:
Leave No One Behind. After 2015 we should move from reducing to ending extreme poverty, in all its forms. We should ensure that no person – regardless of ethnicity, gender, geography, disability, race or other status – is denied basic economic opportunities and human rights. Put Sustainable Development at the Core. We have to integrate the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. We must act now to slow the alarming pace of climate change and environmental degradation, which pose unprecedented threats to humanity. Transform Economies for Jobs and inclusive growth. A profound economic transformation can end extreme poverty and improve livelihoods, by harnessing innovation, technology, and the potential of business. More diversified economies, with equal opportunities for all, can drive social inclusion, especially for young people, and foster sustainable consumption and production patterns. Build Peace and Effective, Open and Accountable Institutions for All. Freedom from conflict and violence is the most fundamental human entitlement, and the essential foundation for building peaceful and prosperous societies. At the same time, people the world over expect their governments to be honest, accountable, and responsive to their needs. We are calling for a fundamental shift – to recognize peace and good governance as a core element of well-being, not an optional extra. Forge a New Global Partnership. A new spirit of solidarity, cooperation, and mutual accountability must underpin the post-2015 agenda. This new partnership should be based on a common understanding of our shared humanity, based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. It should be centered on people, including those affected by poverty and exclusion, women, youth, the aged, disabled persons, and indigenous peoples. It should include civil society organizations, multilateral institutions, local and national governments, the scientific and academic community, businesses, and private philanthropy.
Regional consultations
Regional organizations are conducting consultations to formulate regional positions on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Notably, the African Union has mandated the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, to come up with an African Common Position on the Post 2015 Development Agenda. This Common Position will be a result of multiple sub-regional and regional consultations with African policy makers (national and regional), civil society organizations, academia, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders.
In May 2014 the Planet Earth Institute hosted an event at the United Nations in New York where the panel (including Alvaro Sobrinho, Paul Boateng & Christopher Edwards) spoke on Delivering the Post 2015 applied science and skills agenda for Africa: the role of business.
National consultations National consultations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda are designed to open to crowd-sourcing the usually closed multilateral negotiation process. The consultations generate inputs into global policy making from individuals and groups in 88 countries through meetings and conferences, online discussions, and larger public debates. The consultations are organized by UN teams in the participating 88 countries and will conclude by the end of March 2013. They form an integral part in the elaboration of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. National consultations follow several objectives: They help countries build a national position, which can later on facilitate the negotiation for the future framework. They increase countries' empowerment of the future framework. It took several years before the current MDGs, which were not designed in an inclusive way, were recognized by advanced and developing countries. They help build national and international consensus on a range of issues.