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My World survey offers architects of post-2015 agenda an unmissable cue

Textbook prescription … Honest government and better education are among the priorities identified in the My World global survey. Photograph: James Davies/AlamyA poll in which 200,000 people chose six life-changing priorities offers post-2015 planners vital input – not least on governanceWhat is it that people most want in life? The governments shaping the next global development agenda are doing so in the name of making people's lives better – so it seems like a good idea to ask as many people as possible what that entails.

Last week, the UN presented the first cut of the "global conversation" – reports of the 11 thematic and 83 national consultations on what a post-2015 agenda might look like. On Monday, the latest results from the My World survey add another dimension to that discussion.

Read more: My World survey offers architects of post-2015 agenda an unmissable cue

A SNEAK PEEK INTO POST-2015 AGENDA PRIORITIES

In the United Nations’ first wave of global consultations, three priorities have emerged as post-2015 development goals.

The priorities, summed up in a snapshot report called The Global Conversation Begins, have emerged from the results of a global multimedia conversation, involving more than 200,000 people in 83 national dialogues across 189 countries.

The report has revealed the following priorities:

• The progress on the Millennium Development Goals should be accelerated and adapted to contemporary challenges, such as growing inequalities within countries and the impact of globalization.
• The consultations point to the need for a universal agenda to address challenges such as environmental degradation, unemployment and violence.
• People want to participate, both in agenda setting as well as monitoring the progress of the post-2015 framework implementation.

According to the report, the consultations suggest a number of implications for a new development agenda, which include the following:

• While measurability and focus will continue to be important, the new agenda should be balanced and holistic to be successful.
• The consultations point to the need for a genuinely universal agenda, taking up persistent social challenges in relatively wealthy countries and acknowledging the interconnectedness of people, governments and business across the globe.
• The new agenda must find a way to ensure real results, realize human rights and use technology to engage people the world over in taking the next development agenda forward.

The report has been distributed to more than 100 representatives of U.N. member states who will play a key role in negotiating the global development framework that will succeed the MDGs.

The United Nations has engaged the participants of its global conversation through a mosaic of communications platforms, including digital media, mobile phone applications, conferences and surveys.

A U.N. Development Program press release said U.N. teams in the member states have ensured that groups typically silent in global processes — women, indigenous communities, youth, persons with disabilities, among other sectors — could participate in the consultations and make their voices heard on what they believe are priorities for their communities’ development.

Later this month, the report will be handed over to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, whose main task is to prepare recommendations. The panel, headed by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and Presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Susilo Yudhoyono of Indonesia, will meet in Bali at the end of March.

UN: Emphasize Rights in Development Agenda

(New York) – The United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda should be grounded in human rights, Human Rights Watch said today in aletter to the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

The panel, established to take forward the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which expires in 2015, will meet in Bali, Indonesia from March 25 to 27, 2013. It will be the panel’s final meeting before submitting its recommended framework to the secretary-general in May.

“While the Millennium Development Goals had enormous positive impact, they also failed millions by focusing only on the achievements of whole populations,” said Jan Egeland, Europe director and deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch. “The new framework needs to shine a light on the forgotten bystanders – those left behind through discrimination based on race, class, or gender.”

Drawing on its research in various parts of the world, from the Horn of Africa to South Asia, Human Rights Watch urged the panel to apply the hard-won lessons from the Millennium Development Goals process. The letter urged the panel to ensure that a Post-2015 Development Agenda:

• Measures advancement of the full range of human rights, not just economic growth;
• Stresses that inclusive development is key to ensuring that development progress benefits populations experiencing marginalization and discrimination – women, ethnic and religious minorities, and people with disabilities, among others;
• Emphasizes the importance of accountability for abuse and in the use of government funds;
• Requires participatory, rights-respecting development to enable citizen ownership and protect against human rights violations inflicted in the name of development; requires corporate responsibility and accountability; and
• Includes international mechanisms for accountability and redress.

Participants in the Bali meeting should move beyond generalized discussions to implementing a human rights-based framework built on concrete goals, targets, and indicators, Human Rights Watch said.

“Our work around the world reveals the dire consequences of development that ignores human rights,” Egeland said. “The panel should recognize that rights and development are inextricably linked.”

Read the original article on the Human Rights Watch website.

In Guatemala, UNICEF chief urges increased nutrition and justice for children

22 March 2013 – Despite some achievements in improving living standards for children, Guatemala must increase access to nutrition as well as to justice for its youngest citizens or leave an entire generation at risk, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today.

In a press statement released during his visit to the Central American nation’s capital, Guatemala City, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake voiced concern for the welfare of an estimated 5,800 children still languishing in institutions throughout the country with little or no access to their families or alternative care.

“All children need the love and nurturing only a family can give no matter how good and caring the institution. And while it’s encouraging to see the signs of progress in both nutrition and protection, if we fail to sustain it, we leave a generation at risk,” Mr. Lake declared.

“We cannot let the immensity of the problems discourage us from making progress – nor let the progress create complacency. We must accelerate it,” he added.

Mr. Lake, however, pointed to “encouraging signs of progress,” including the creation of special courts to hear cases of violence and abuse in high crime regions of the country. Moreover, he noted that an increasing number of children were leaving institutions and being reunited with their families.

“There is greater agreement to resolve adoption cases with clear targets and to prevent children being institutionalized,” a news release issued by UNICEF confirmed.

During his trip to Guatemala, Mr. Lake also visited the city of Totonicapán, where he witnessed first hand ongoing efforts to reduce the country’s levels of malnutrition. According to UNICEF statistics, Guatemala has the sixth-highest malnutrition rates in the world, with 49 per cent of children under five chronically malnourished or stunted.

In meetings with the President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, the Executive Director praised the country’s efforts to reduce its chronic under-nutrition by 10 per cent by 2015, adding that the UN would help the country accelerate its progress and build “robust child protection systems.”

“Food alone is not a guarantee to being well nourished,” said Mr. Lake.

“Good nutrition lies at the heart of progress. Simple, cost-effective packages like breastfeeding, micro-nutrients and hand-washing can unleash the potential of children to learn and earn and for a nation to succeed.”