In about one year, the UN Member States are expected to adopt a new development framework that will succeed the expiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The post-2015 development agenda will be a universal and transformative agenda with goals for all countries. It will be centered around a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are currently being negotiated by governments.
The high-level political commitments of the new agenda will not be legally binding. It is therefore crucial that all relevant actors take responsibility for achieving actual change on the ground, answer and report to their constituencies, and disclose actions and results in a transparent way. In short, it is essential to ensure Accountability for implementing the post-2015 development agenda.
Against this backdrop and upon the request of the Secretary-General, UNECE and the regional UN Development Group are organizing a Regional Ministerial Consultation on Accountability for the Post-2015 Development Agenda at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 15 and 16 September.
The meeting aims at a focused and inspiring discussion on what accountability should look like in the post-2015 world and how it could help achieve the SDGs. The main questions that are put forward for discussion are: What is the best and most effective way to hold stakeholders accountable for implementing a universal and transformative agenda? What could an accountability mechanism look like that involves the local, national, regional, and global levels? How can the wealth of existing mechanisms be integrated? What could be a possible role of the regional level within a multi-layered accountability framework? And how can partnerships among different stakeholders – governments, civil society, the private sector – help create and strengthen accountability?
These issues will be discussed in a multi-stakeholder format with high-level participation from governments, civil society, international organizations, the private sector and academia. The meeting will be chaired by Ambassador Michael Gerber, Special Envoy for Global Sustainable Development of Switzerland and feature a number of high-level speakers, including Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning.
The meeting outcome with the regional messages on accountability will feed into the synthesis report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015 agenda that will be prepared by the end of the year.
For more information, please visit: www.unece.org/post-2015/regionalministerialconsultation2014.html