Next week the U.N. begins negotiations to finalize the international goals for the next 15 years. This is called the Post-2015 Agenda.
Last year, a series of Open Working Groups created 17 issues for consideration. They are as follows:
Focus area 1. Poverty eradication
Focus area 2. Food security and nutrition
Focus area 3. Health and population dynamics
Focus area 4. Education
Focus area 5. Gender equality and women's empowerment
Focus area 6. Water and sanitation
Focus area 7. Energy
Focus area 8. Economic growth
Focus area 9. Industrialization
Focus area 10. Infrastructure
Focus area 11. Employment and decent work for all
Focus area 12. Promoting equality
Focus area 13. Sustainable cities and human settlements
Focus area 14. Sustainable consumption and production
Focus area 15. Climate
Focus area 16. Marine resources, oceans and seas
Focus area 17. Ecosystems and biodiversity
In December, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a synthesis report to guide the process, which introduces “a universal call to action to transform our world beyond 2015.” The document promotes a post-2015 development agenda that will create “one universal and transformative agenda for sustainable development, underpinned by rights, and with people and the planet at the centre.”
The report outlines six essential elements for delivering the sustainable development goals: (1) dignity: to end poverty and fight inequalities, (2) people: to ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the inclusion of women and children, (3) prosperity: to grow a strong, inclusive and transformative economy, (4) planet: to protect our ecosystems for all societies and our children, (5) justice: to promote safe and peaceful societies and strong institutions, and (6) partnership: to catalyze global solidarity for sustainable development.
The process will begin Friday, with input from civil society and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations). I will be attending this meeting, as a representative of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, and will report the statements during this meeting next week. Our representatives will promote the importance of empowering the family unit to help achieve these humanitarian goals.
Following this initial input, the negotiations will begin next week — Jan. 19-21. The negotiations will continue through August, and the final document will be presented Sept. 25 at a United Nations summit — with many world leaders in attendance.
This summit will also come at the end of the 15 years of the Millennium Development Goals.
The secretary-general claims that “drawing from the experience of two decades of development practice and from the inputs gathered through an open and inclusive process, the report charts a road map to achieve dignity in the next 15 years.”
Susan Roylance is the International Policy and Social Development Coordinator for the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society.