Jeffery Huffines on behalf of NGO Major Group
Open Working Group Session 11
5 May 2014
On behalf of the NGO Major Group, we would like to focus our attention on the first three Focus Areas to be discussed today.
On Focus Area 1 on poverty eradication, the emphasis to ensure social protection in target 1c is very welcome, yet the way it is written weakens the existing consensus that universal social protection floors are a human rights imperative in all countries for people of all ages.
Further, we are concerned that there are no specific targets aimed at assessing inequality, but instead targets which focus on economic opportunity (1f) and sustaining income growth of the bottom 40% of people (8a). Neither measure is sure to reduce economic inequality per se, let alone eradicate the type of extreme inequality we face today. We recommend a concrete target to reduce economic inequality by a said amount per year through enhanced use of progressive taxation, tracked in reference to one of the widely accepted metrics of income inequality, and disaggregated across disadvantaged groups.
We recommend that target 1d is strengthened by a specific reference to the need to protect livelihoods and productive assets – specifically “livestock, working animals, tools and seeds” – from the impact of disasters.
Further, target 1e should also include reference to achieving decent work for all.
On Focus Area 2 on sustainable agriculture and food security, we endorse including an additional target that states “by 2030, contain excessive food price volatility -- as measured by the -- (maximum standard deviation of x% from food price index over time).”
The 2008 and 2011 food price crises exposed the problems of over-reliance on international markets and flawed trade rules, as well as the relatively new problems of excessive speculation on commodity markets. The deregulation of financial markets has led to a process of “financialization” of commodities, treating food, energy and other commodities as asset classes for speculative investments rather than the back-bones of stable economies and food systems.
On Focus Area 3 on health and population dynamics, we support the inclusion of the target, “By 2030, reduce to zero the non-therapeutic and preventative use of antibiotics in livestock production to protect adequate and affordable healthcare for all.”
We also support the additional target, “by 2030 increase by x years healthy life expectancy at birth and at age 60.” Given the global trend of population ageing, with people aged 60 and over projected to constitute 16 per cent of the total worldwide population by 2030, the framework must include a target that addresses not only this increasing longevity, but also the quality of life of people as they age.
Moreover, we welcome the language “for all people” but would urge Member States to adopt the wording “for all people of all ages” wherever possible in the goals and targets. For example, this would apply to (1b) on reducing national poverty, (3c) on non-communicable diseases and (3d) on Universal Health Coverage.
