Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations Session, May 2015
Interactive Dialogue with major groups and other stakeholders.
Betty Wamala, Beyond 2015 and World Vision
Mr. Co-Facilitators,
Distinguished delegates,
Dear partners and colleagues,
We are reaching the final, critical moments of negotiations, when the aspirations of a new, transformative post-2015 agenda are expected to be reflected in an agreed outcome document. Now is the time for us to measure up to our ambition, and for Member States to set the basis for a comprehensive and robust monitoring and accountability mechanism. This mechanism must incorporate commitments to report and evaluate progress towards the SDGs and their means of implementation. Let me briefly present a few recommendations:
First, the monitoring mechanism should be multi-level, focusing on the global, regional and national levels. A universal post-2015 agenda demands global action, based on the accountability of member states inwards, towards their own citizens. And it must extend its scope upwards and outwards, to assess how effectively countries, the UN system and other stakeholders are cooperating to achieve the SDGs.
Secondly, the extraordinary efforts made by people in defining the goals should be matched by efforts to include people in the implementation and monitoring. Who better to measure and track success than the people at their center? After all, it is their lives, and the lives of their children, that depend upon the achievement of the goals. A strong way to ensure all women, men, children, young people, people with disabilities and indigenous people are reached, particularly those experiencing poverty, inequality and marginalization - is through clear pathways to jointly monitor whether promises are being delivered – from the local to the global level. The most important of those pathways exist at local level and there is a clear need for investment on that. Therefore, we recommend that Member States also commit on promoting an enabling environment for participatory monitoring as well as means and capacity building for this to happen.
World Vision has launched this week a report “Grassroots to Global” which provides concrete proposals for a Citizen-Driven accountability for the SDGs. I wish to encourage Member States to read either the entire report or its Executive Summary. You will all receive it via email.
Finally, incorporating people’s voices at national, regional and global post-2015 monitoring mechanisms will be critical for a real transformative agenda and Member States should agree to ensuring spaces for citizen generated evidence and dialogue.
To achieve the things I have outlined, it is important for member states to nurture a transparent and enabling environment where stakeholders, including children and young people, can collaborate on this critical global agenda. Thank You.
