Major Group: Women
The future of the HLPF – agenda setting
July 3, 2014
I'm Mabel Bianco, from Argentina, President of Fundación para Estudio e investigación de la Mujer. I'm talking here on behalf of the WMG.
I thank the opportunity to speak about the future of HLPF and it's future agenda and future modalities of agenda setting. We all recognize and agree about the importance of the HLPF in ensuring that the states’ commitments to what will become the post 2015 development agenda will become on the ground realities. Something less acknowledged is that not all of us understand the same about the roles of the HLPF, its format and the practical outlets in which civil society could engage with it in the future, including in the agenda setting process.
Throughout the previous days states, CSOs/Major Groups, the private sector, the scientific community celebrated the UN Resolutions 67/290 and the Rio+20 practices which recognized and recommended a broad participation of all stakeholders , as well as the efforts to ensure , promote , facilitate and increase this participation , specially to become more inclusive and mirror the diversity of Civil Society’s concerns worldwide.
We celebrate the advances in defining this participation in the process of the Post 2015 Agenda, as the creation of Major Groups , recognizing the need to structure and create channels to allow each group to organize and have their own rules and modalities. Transforming the world towards sustainable development we need a broad mobilization of resources, broad participation, and broad consensus over principals and guiding values.
The international community needs to know what’s going on at local, national, and regional level in order to not leave anyone behind and ensure ownership over the major transformations envisioned by SDGs. As much as governments are not alone in implementing SD policies they should also not be the only voice reporting on the progress of the SD agenda.
The structure and modalities should ensure this by extending the CSD and Rio+20 practices so that Major Groups and stakeholders – and particularly rights-holder groups such as women, indigenous peoples and youth – have official opportunities to provide input at all stages that include incorporation into the outcomes. Best practices and “worst practices” for sustainable development and implementing the SDGs cannot be relegated to side events and segregated morning sessions.
Since the beginning together governments and civil society groups have been developing the structure and targets of SDGs , based on the principles that no sustainable development could be conceived in a framework without human rights respect and gender equality .
The HLPF is part of this process so we could not accept to have different patterns in the working groups and in the HLPF. These means MG, civil society and other stakeholders needs to have access to all information and documents as well as to express about all matters including the Agenda and more substantive ones.
In the resolution defining the role and scope of HLPF, the participation of MJ is not only guaranteed but also envisioned as a transparency and accountability instrument. We consider that the future participation of MJ in consultations over agenda setting is important for complying with the agreed functioning of the HLPF.
We can not accept the qualification of "relevant stakeholders " all are the same and have the right to meaningfully and responsibly participate in equal terms, no one can have more privileges in detriment of others, this generate discriminations and we didn't accept any form of discrimination due to sex, age, disability, ethnicity or other factor. One idea that may be considered is to have an intergovernmental oversight of the partnership facility within the HLPF.
We are committed to have a strong, ambitious, inclusive and people-centred Post 2015 development agenda firmly grounded in human rights and Gender equality and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and leave no one behind.
Finally we express our commitment to discuss and consider all forms to ensure the improvement of the HLPF.
July 3, 2014
I'm Mabel Bianco, from Argentina, President of Fundación para Estudio e investigación de la Mujer. I'm talking here on behalf of the WMG.
I thank the opportunity to speak about the future of HLPF and it's future agenda and future modalities of agenda setting. We all recognize and agree about the importance of the HLPF in ensuring that the states’ commitments to what will become the post 2015 development agenda will become on the ground realities. Something less acknowledged is that not all of us understand the same about the roles of the HLPF, its format and the practical outlets in which civil society could engage with it in the future, including in the agenda setting process.
Throughout the previous days states, CSOs/Major Groups, the private sector, the scientific community celebrated the UN Resolutions 67/290 and the Rio+20 practices which recognized and recommended a broad participation of all stakeholders , as well as the efforts to ensure , promote , facilitate and increase this participation , specially to become more inclusive and mirror the diversity of Civil Society’s concerns worldwide.
We celebrate the advances in defining this participation in the process of the Post 2015 Agenda, as the creation of Major Groups , recognizing the need to structure and create channels to allow each group to organize and have their own rules and modalities. Transforming the world towards sustainable development we need a broad mobilization of resources, broad participation, and broad consensus over principals and guiding values.
The international community needs to know what’s going on at local, national, and regional level in order to not leave anyone behind and ensure ownership over the major transformations envisioned by SDGs. As much as governments are not alone in implementing SD policies they should also not be the only voice reporting on the progress of the SD agenda.
The structure and modalities should ensure this by extending the CSD and Rio+20 practices so that Major Groups and stakeholders – and particularly rights-holder groups such as women, indigenous peoples and youth – have official opportunities to provide input at all stages that include incorporation into the outcomes. Best practices and “worst practices” for sustainable development and implementing the SDGs cannot be relegated to side events and segregated morning sessions.
Since the beginning together governments and civil society groups have been developing the structure and targets of SDGs , based on the principles that no sustainable development could be conceived in a framework without human rights respect and gender equality .
The HLPF is part of this process so we could not accept to have different patterns in the working groups and in the HLPF. These means MG, civil society and other stakeholders needs to have access to all information and documents as well as to express about all matters including the Agenda and more substantive ones.
In the resolution defining the role and scope of HLPF, the participation of MJ is not only guaranteed but also envisioned as a transparency and accountability instrument. We consider that the future participation of MJ in consultations over agenda setting is important for complying with the agreed functioning of the HLPF.
We can not accept the qualification of "relevant stakeholders " all are the same and have the right to meaningfully and responsibly participate in equal terms, no one can have more privileges in detriment of others, this generate discriminations and we didn't accept any form of discrimination due to sex, age, disability, ethnicity or other factor. One idea that may be considered is to have an intergovernmental oversight of the partnership facility within the HLPF.
We are committed to have a strong, ambitious, inclusive and people-centred Post 2015 development agenda firmly grounded in human rights and Gender equality and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and leave no one behind.
Finally we express our commitment to discuss and consider all forms to ensure the improvement of the HLPF.