Leading up to the year 2015, the United Nations and Civil Society are organizing a series of consultations to help shape the post-2015 development agenda. Part of this process is a Global Online Conversation, which provides a platform for people all over the world to share their visions for building a just and sustainable world free from poverty.  The following contribution was made by IWHC to the online thematic consultation on Inequalities, specifically within the sub-discussion on “Inequalities faced by girls”.

Young people all over the world face a range of unique challenges to exercising their rights.  Barriers to age-appropriate health services, meaningful education, and viable livelihoods opportunities are among the most pressing impediments to youth empowerment.

Read more at Akimbo

The joint UN programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, has today launched a two-week online discussion (eDiscussion) to foster debate of how to tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic after 2015.

The thematic consultation is an open and inclusive online discussion targeting individuals, members of civil society, the academia, governments and the private sector to discuss the ways in which the global AIDS response can and should inform the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Read more at allAfrica

Parliamentarians, civil society and academia have repeatedly emphasised the centrality of governance to sustainable development, taking into account capacity development needs of both people and institutions for good governance at different levels, from local to global.

The press conference held at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), discussed a wide-range of issues, including: the current international development agenda, assessment of progress on the MDGs, governance bottlenecks to the achievement of MDGs as well as the need to align the Post-2015 agenda with the needs and aspirations of global citizens. If sustainable development is to be achieved, “there is need to deal with bureaucratic bottlenecks” in our governance structures and systems  said Hon. Ebrahim Abrahim, South Africa’s Deputy Minister in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, is committed to taking a leading role in the Global Thematic Consultation on Governance and in shaping the post-2015 global development framework. Mr. Ebrahim cautioned that as important as it might be, the eradication of corruption alone is unlikely to lead to the full realization of MDGs as it was just “one of the many” governance problems the world is facing today.

Read more at United Nations South Africa

Civic “ownership” of the development agenda post-2015 is essential for ensuring that people in the developing world can lift themselves out of poverty and hunger, a leading development figure has said.

Speaking in the European Parliament on 22 January, Rebeca Grynpsan, UN under-secretary-general and UNDP associate administrator, said that the current UN millennium development goals (MDGs) are largely, “still a success, despite uneven progress”. However, she said that “what is today a success, could be a failure in three years time”.

Read more at New Europ

National consultations for the post-2015 MDG agenda project, Breaking Point are nearing completion. The last in the series takes place in Samoa from 21-24 January.

The Foundation will then finalise all 14 national reports and have first drafts of cross-cutting thematic articles ready for the ‘Advancing the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda’ civil society meeting on 20 March in Bonn, Germany and the UN High Level Panel meeting in Bali, Indonesia at the end of March. The aim of the national consultations is to validate and enhance a series of preliminary reports on civil society experience in contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Read more at Breaking Point: The post- 2015 MDG agenda

The Light Millennium and the College of Arts and Letters at the Stevens Institute of Technology will jointly present a conference on the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and their relation to ideals advanced by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), founder of the Turkish Republic.

The conference will be held on April 19th on the campus of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Read more at Nation of Turks

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) has launched a global survey which will provide a more open and inclusive planning of the global development agenda post 2015.

The survey called MY World “The United Nations Global Survey for A Better World” will be available online in bahasa Indonesia later this week.

UNIC director Michele Zaccheo said Tuesday that MY World would allow as many people as possible to voice their opinions. This is a chance to tell decision makers what you want prioritized in the global development agenda post 2015. The survey will give them an accurate global picture of what citizens were thinking about, he added.

Take the survey at http://www.myworld2015.org/

Read more at The Jakarta Post

The global discussion on MDG achievement is looking ahead to a post 2015 development framework. But engaging in this conversation can be confusing and frustrating due to seemingly overlapping debates, dialogues and engagements.

GCAP is playing a leadership role in the process globally and we hope to support national coalitions and constituency groups connect to relevant parts of the debate. With this in mind, we'd like to briefly outline some of the primary spaces for engagement, starting with five ways to engage with the post-2015 process…

Read more at Global Call to Action Against Poverty

National Chairperson for the Post 2015 Development Agenda in Malawi who is also a former Vice President of Malawi Dr Justin Malewezi told journalists in the capital Lilongwe that as countries approach 2015, there was need for nations like Malawi to provide a platform for debate to analyse and assess inputs and outputs on the global development agenda.

“We are requesting the public to provide their contributions and priorities in areas of education, health, climate change, good governance, gender equality and water sanitation among others,” he said.

Some of the questions include the most important thing for Malawi, what should be improved, and what should be done to improve the quality of life for people over the next ten years.

Read more at StarAfrica.com

To advance progress for children and youth worldwide, it is critical for the global community to recognize education as essential for human development. As Education For All and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) sunset in 2015, and the U.N. secretary-general launches Education First, the education sector has a unique opportunity to raise the profile of global education goals to ensure access plus learning becomes a central component of the global development agenda.

Online discussions for the global thematic consultations on education in the post-2015 development framework are now in progress, along with countless other meetings and events hosted by civil society, NGOs, development agencies and more. The official consultations, supported by UNICEF and UNESCO, include four phases of e-discussion that are taking place between December 2012 and February 2013 on the topics of equitable access to education; quality of learning; global citizenship, skills and jobs; and governance and financing for education. Each of the e-discussions will run for 2 weeks and each week will have a new set of questions to guide the discussion. Other key events during the consultation process will include a global meeting on education in Dakar, Senegal, on March 17, 2013, and the finalization of a synthesis report on March, 31, 2013 that summarizes input to the online discussions. Opinions gathered will be used directly by the U.N. and world leaders to plan a new development agenda.

Read more at Brookings

The international community is talking a lot about what development will look like post the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. Of great concern to UNAIDS/us is making sure that HIV, and the response to it, remain a central feature in the Post-2015 agenda. Why? Because the global HIV epidemic remains one of the world’s leading causes of early death and is both a driver and consequence of inequality and social injustice. The AIDS response has also been a pioneer and pathfinder on many fronts, and the innovation, dynamism, community leadership and global solidarity that characterizes the AIDS movement can make critical contributions to doing health and development differently in the Post-2015 era.

To capture your voices and views on how AIDS and health should be reflected Post-2015, UNAIDS is hosting an online and open-to-all conversation that will be moderated by nine individuals with long-standing experience in HIV and health. This online conversation will run for two weeks, between 21 January to 3 February.

Read more at Global Equity Today

You’d be pretty foolish to propose a complete post-2015 development framework right now, wouldn’t you? What with the High Level Panel still to have their second substantive meeting (in Monrovia, following London last November and with the Indonesian fixture to follow), and the global consultations still running… You’d pretty much be putting up a target and inviting attack, wouldn’t you? Still, hard hats on, here goes!

Save the Children today publishes the modestly titled Ending Poverty in our Generation, which sets out a vision of how the successor to the Millennium Development Goals could look. Rather than try to summarise it here, I’ll suggest reading it instead – but you can get the gist of it from the contents page, which is reproduced at the bottom of this post. And Mark Tran at the Guardian has a very good (and kind!) piece up already.

Read more at ProBlog

In year 2000, the Government of Mauritius has committed itself with the Sates of UN General Assembly towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

A Questionnaire has been designed to gather inputs and ideas for a global shared vision of the post 2015 development agenda.

Following a meeting of the National Coordination Committee of the MDG, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, all Ministries and Departments have been requested to post a copy of the questionnaire on their respective website. This initiative is to support the summit, create awareness and help collect maximum feedback.

Read more at Open University of Mauritius

The United Nations (UN) in Vietnam has initiated a series of consultations with a broad range of Vietnamese citizens on the new development framework to be put in place in 2015, once the current Millennium Development Goals expire, Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper reported on Friday.

Pratibha Mehta, UN resident coordinator in Vietnam said the UN wants to ensure that a diversity of voices is heard in determining the new development goals post-2015. A wide range of people, including eight target groups, are asked about what kind of world they want.

The national consultations are an excellent way to identify how we can best address the new development challenges we are facing, and how to build a world beyond 2015 where all people can enjoy a life of prosperity, equity, freedom and dignity, said Pratibha Mehta.

Read more at NZweek

The 2013 Global Human Rights Essay Contest on “Human Right City” (Hereafter HRC Essay Contest) is a joint initiative  of the Human Rights Center of Seoul National University, the May 18 Institute of Chonnam National University, and the Korea Human Rights Foundation (KHRF) with support of the Metropolitan City of Gwangju in connection with the 3rd World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) which will be held from 16-18 May 2013 in Gwangju, South Korea.

It is co-sponsored by the following partner organizations; UNESCO Asia-Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU), United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) - Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Its primary goal is to promote university students and youth participation in the building of a human rights city through the articulation of their visions and experiences of a human rights city. The ideas and proposals contained in the essays are expected to be used for the promotion of a human rights city as a means to localize human rights in the context of glocalization (globalization + localization) and glurbanization (globalization + urbanization), in particular, for the implementation of the 2011 Gwangju Declaration on Human Rights City and the 2012 Gwangju Statement of the WHRCF, Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City of the UCLG, and research on local government and human rights of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (HRCAC).

Three semi-finalists will make presentations and compete for first place on 15 May 2015 prior to the WHRCF in Gwangju, South Korea.

Open Invitation 2013 WHRCF HRC Essay Contest

ToR 2013 WHRCF HRC Essay Contest

To
President Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President's Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN

16 January 2013

Dear President Zardari,

Re: Protection of Civil Society Members and Respect for their Rights

I write to you from CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international alliance of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred countries. CIVICUS supports citizens’ rights and democratic freedoms across the globe, including the freedoms of expression, association and assembly.

Amidst the worsening violence in Pakistan over the last 6 weeks, CIVICUS has become increasingly concerned by the spate of murders targeting male and female NGO workers and campaigners simply for performing their professional responsibilities. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in December 2012, the shooting of six female workers and one male NGO worker, in addition to the targeted killings of nine polio health care workers, 5 of which were female, have horrified the international community and civil society around the world. Moreover in January this year, the offices of an NGO were bombed and two further aid workers reported killed in separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while a 71 year old charity worker was shot in Lahore.

The African Youth Conference on Post-2015 Development Agenda, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 12-16 December 2012, has adopted a Youth Declaration on the Post-2015 Agenda. This Agenda identifies 13 actions for accelerating progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and makes recommendations for the post-2015 development agenda.

Convened by the Organization of African Youth, with the support of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, the Conference reviewed progress on the MDGs, discussed the future of youth in the post-2015 agenda and addressed African countries’ commitments on creating jobs and reducing youth unemployment.

Read more at Sustainable Development Policy & Practice

Local NGO, Alliance Lanka has organised a consultation this week in Colombo to discuss civil society’s experience in contributing towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the national framework. The meeting will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. The consultation is an important phase of the Breaking Point project, a joint initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation and United Nations Millennium Campaign, the organisation said. ‘Breaking Point’ aims to take stock, discuss what the MDGs have achieved and why, and stimulate thinking on the post-MDG architecture. The consultation will focus on reviewing national experiences of civil society involvement in MDG policy formulation, implementation and delivery, and monitoring, it said in a statement.
The Colombo parley is part of consultations taking take place in 14 Commonwealth countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Pakistan, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zambia.

“Alliance Lanka believes that civil society plays a critical role as a development actor, and as such, it is important that civil society has a prominent voice in the national and global dialogue on the MDGs and post-MDG architecture,” the statement said.

The organisation in August 2012 compiled a comprehensive country report on the status of the millennium development goals focusing not only on the MDGs but also paying emphasis to the targets and indicators, and considering the situation at central and provincial levels.

Read more at The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka Business Times

Despite the significant advances made by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) initiative since its inception in 2000, much is still needed to build on the momentum created by the project and ensure sustainable development in emerging regions.

The United Nations has embarked on eleven global consultations to shape the post-2015 development agenda, to assess the lessons learnt over the past decade and to centre on what was required after the MDGs initiative came to an end in 2015.

The MDGs aimed to tackle eight challenges by 2015, namely poverty and hunger, universal access to education, gender equality, children’s health, maternal health, HIV/Aids, environmental sustainability and global partnerships.

Read more at Creamer Media's Engineering News

The Commonwealth is an association of 54 countries united both by shared values and by great diversity. It consists of developed and developing countries, rich and poor, large and small. It is home to 2 billion citizens of all faiths and ethnicities, more than half of whom are 25 years old or under.

The end of the MDG and EFA period in 2015 will signal a paradigm shift in the global development framework. Commonwealth ministers of education met in London in December 2012 and developed recommendations for post-2015 which are now feeding into the UN discussions and wider debates. This blog post provides a summary.

Read more at Education for All Global Monitoring Report

In 2015, the current global development agenda, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will come to an end. South Africa, Africa’s largest economy, is one of the countries appointed to lead the design of a new global development framework.

In February 2013, the Pan-African Parliament, with the support of the Government of South Africa, UNDP, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the German Government, will be hosting the Global Thematic Consultation on Governance and the Post-2015 Development framework. The consultative meeting will bring together Heads of States, Civil Society Representatives, Businesses, youth and other stakeholders to shape thinking on democracy, economic development, governance/accountability, peace and security in the new global development paradigm. The meeting will highlight progress being made by African countries towards building sustainable democracy and in the management of diversity among other pertinent issues. For more information, please visit http://www.worldwewant2015.org/governance.

Read more at StarAfrica.com

As online consultations move forward regarding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) post-2015 framework, civil society, academia, governments and the UN continue to grapple with what priorities to set for an agenda that will be a no-holds-barred assault on poverty. Resoundingly, the peoples of the world that have been consulted are calling for an agenda that permanently disrupts the status quo and provides the foundation for many of the stakeholders involved in the talks.

There is one major consideration to the viability of our future; priorities for the post-2015 agenda need to interweave solutions to specific challenges women face. The facet of challenges women face worldwide come with entrenched cultural nuances that must be reflected throughout individual aims that each government should commit to reach. Whereas a universal framework for aims are important for achieving continuity in global standards, the greatest collaboration between civil society (nonprofits and similar entities) and lay persons must be an open process for all ages to engage with.

Read more at The Huff Post

This is the second Thematic Think Piece on Disaster Risk and Resilience developed by UN entities to support discussions on the post-2015 development agenda. The paper outlines the modus operandi of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction partnership in working with and empowering stakeholders to build partnerships and political legitimacy for international agreements in the context of disaster risk reduction. With this approach the paper refers to the directions outlined in the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.

It calls for localising and leveraging partnerships for risk reduction and asserts that the strength of the Hyogo Framework for Action is the ability to influence and guide diverse groups and generate partnerships amongst a wide variety of stakeholders (not just national governments) including local government representatives, science and technology institutions, parliamentarians, interest groups and community practitioners, the private sector, and media.

Read more at The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

The political talks towards new global goals are on. The Rio+20 congregation came up with the idea to agree on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that would set the stage for action under the post-2015 development agenda and supposedly define “The future we want” as stipulated in the Rio+20 outcome document.

Meeting calendars and travel schedules now converge to propel the SDG process. For those involved in UN-led development work, this process may appear to be a way to the future we want. As Ross Coggins wrote in his 1976 poem The Development Set: “Our thoughts are deep and our vision global.” New wisdom will no doubt emerge and be shared with everyone that keeps a Twitter account.

Read more at Forest News

Several world leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, among others are said to be gearing up to attend the third High Level Panel Meeting on the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Monrovia from January 30 to February 2, 2013.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to co-chair the upcoming meeting with both leaders in Monrovia.

A release from the Executive Mansion said, the Panel is comprised of 27 members, including Heads of State, Ministers, former Ministers and independent experts. President Sirleaf last week Thursday received several visiting dignitaries in Monrovia and expressed appreciation for their presence ahead of the third High Level Panel Meeting on the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Read more in allAfrica

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted in 2000 and are supposed to have been attained by 2015, that is, in two years’ time. There are currently a number of on-going consultative processes in the search of a successor agreement. The UN Secretary General has appointed a 27 member High Level Panel with three co-chairs – President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia. Our own Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a member and Amina Mohammed, former Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs is the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on the process.

For us in Nigeria, it is important that we have a genuine debate over the coming months that goes beyond a list of goals and targets not bound together by a coherent narrative which is consistent with the challenges facing our development process. Nigeria still lags behind and it is now clear that we are unlikely to be able to meet any of the goals by 2015. The three levels of government, federal, state and local, are simply not investing enough to meet the goals and a significant part what is being invested is lost due to massive public corruption and diversion of resources to meet security challenges. As we move forward, I propose six key challenges we need to address to improve the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians.

Read more at The CDD Blog

In 2000, the international community approved the most ambitious consolidated development agenda in history in the form of the Millennium Development Goals. Huge uncertainty remained, however, about whether it would be possible to accomplish the goals by the time they would expire in 2015. Now, as we approach the deadline, the picture has become clearer. On some of the goals, progress has exceeded expectations and the targets have been met. On others however, the international community has failed to achieve the targets outlined in 2000.

As previously mentioned in the RESULTS Blog, the UN is currently in the process of consulting stakeholders around the world to see what should be included in the next set of development goals for 2015.

Read more at RESULTS

The High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will meet in Monrovia, Liberia from 30 January to 2 February 2013, where the focus will be on 'National Building Blocks for Sustained Prosperity.' The High-level Panel, which is co-chaired by Prime Minister Cameron, is calling on civil society organizations and individuals from all over the world to contribute their views on development priorities after 2015. Contributions can be made through mobile phones and the “my world” website. Offline surveys will be distributed through a network of grass-roots organizations, faith-based communities, youth groups, private sector bodies and NGO partners around the world.

Civil society organizations as well as individuals can give their opinion on 16 questions which are set by the High-level Panel and derived from the 24 framing questions the Panel identified at the beginning of their work. The Panel’s Secretariat has selected and re-organized the framing questions for the current civil society consultation to avoid repetition of consultation topics already covered in the October / November 2012 civil society consultation.

Read more at United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe

Experts from developing countries will gather in Dhaka early next week to talk about agendas and targets to set following completion of millennium development goals (MDGs) in 2015.

Some 19 experts from South Asia, Latin America and Africa will attend the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)-hosted three-day meeting, beginning on January 11, on a new global initiative, Southern Voice on Post-MDGs.

As the MDGs approach the 2015 deadline, the international development community is focusing on articulation of post-MDG framework, issues and targets.

Taking note of the global power imbalance, knowledge asymmetry and MDG delivery experience, the initiative seeks to channel its inputs from developing countries' perspectives into the ongoing global discussions.

Read more at Star Business Report

Youth from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Mongolia adopted a declaration on the post-2015 development agenda, at the conclusion of the North-East Asian Youth Consultation on the Post-2015 Agenda, held in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The Consultation was convened as part of the global UN-led consultations on the post-2015 agenda.

The Declaration, titled “The World We Want: A North-East Asian Youth Vision,” identifies climate change, discrimination, access to quality education, economic burdens of aging populations, environment, inequality, peace and security, and youth unemployment as key priorities for the post-2015 agenda among North-East Asian youth.

Read more at Read more at Sustainable Development Policy & Practice

"Just when we thought they had reached top speed, debates on the post-2015 development agenda continue to intensify – with the UN High Level Panel on post-2015 reporting as early as May this year, and the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals due to kick off soon. So it’s likely that in the coming months we’ll see ever more proposals being added to the mix of what goals should come after the MDGs," writes Gina Bergh, researcher of the Overseas Development Institute in this opinion piece.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has started to track the emerging proposals, and so far they’ve come up with a table that is organised alphabetically by the sector category. They hope it will be useful to those engaging in the debate and putting forward new ideas, to figure out where theirs fit with what’s been said so far. They are calling for experts to add proposals on concrete targets and indicators.

Read more at Prevention Web  

When the General Assembly wound down its 67th session in late December, it underscored the key role for energy in the U.N.’s post-2015 economic agenda by declaring 2014-2024 the “Decade of Sustainable Energy for All”.

The declaration, adopted unanimously by the U.N.’s 193 member states, was followed by grim statistics: over 1.3 billion people worldwide are still without electricity, and more than 2.6 billion people rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating.

The General Assembly also expressed concern that “even when energy services are available, millions of poor people are unable to pay for them.”

Even before the resolution was adopted, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned, “There can be no sustainable development without sustainable energy.”

Read more at Inter Press Agency News Agency

The UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 agenda has invited inputs from Civil Society Groups on what the future framework for the Millennium Development Goals would look like.  CIVICUS has provided inputs to the process through the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service on (i) the shape and content of the post 2015 framework, and (ii) partnership and accountability for development. These inputs have been provided in advance of the High Level Panel’s meeting in Monrovia, Liberia from 28-30 January 2013.

CIVICUS Responses to NGLS Questionnaire on Post-2015 Framework

In accordance with Resolution ACHPR/Res.230 (LII) 2012, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has issued a call to Civil Society Groups soliciting information on the situation of women human rights defenders in Africa and their protection needs. CIVICUS has contributed to the process, presenting research on (i) the risks and challenges that women human rights defenders and those working on women's rights and gender issues experience in carrying out their work, and (ii) measures national, regional and international stakeholders must take in order to protect women human rights defenders and those who work on women's rights. The Special Rapporteur will present the final report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in April 2013.

CIVICUS makes an intervention on the situation of women human rights defenders in Africa in preparation for a report to be presented to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) in April 2013.

Deadline extended! CIVICUS – FACTS Reports Special Issue: Local Democratic Innovations
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, in partnership with the FACTS Initiative, is pleased to announce a call for proposals on local democratic innovations. Contribute and send an abstract on any innovative project or initiative on governance, participation and accountability at the local and national levels. It can be selected to be published in a special issue of the FACTS Reports to be released in the summer 2013.

Send a 300-word abstract of your proposed paper, in English, French, Spanish or Portuguese, with your CV and a one paragraph biographical statement to Dorothée Guénéheux and to David Kode before 28 February 2013.

Background
As a worldwide alliance of citizens and civil society organisations based in the global South, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) is committed to strengthening youth participation in civil society. At the CIVICUS Youth Assembly in September 2012, momentum gathered within the CIVICUS alliance to explore the creation of a new youth initiative. This brought a strong call for the creation of a representative Youth Advisory Group to help guide CIVICUS’ work on youth participation. CIVICUS is pleased to now issue an open call for applications from individuals to join our Youth Advisory Group.

About the Youth Advisory Group
The Advisory Group’s primary role will be to provide strategic, informed advice on how youth participation issues can be better mainstreamed in CIVICUS’ programmes, and on how CIVICUS can develop new activities to strengthen youth participation in civil society. Working with the support of the Youth Advisory Group, CIVICUS intends to build new partnerships and secure increased resources to scale up new initiatives on youth participation.  

If current trends in consumption continue, by 2030, the world would have the impossible task of producing at least 50 per cent more food, 45 per cent more energy and 30 per cent more water just as arable land, energy sources and clean and safe water shrink at historic rates. The continuity of climate-related disasters, growing food insecurity, sky-rocketing unemployment and lack of decent work (particularly among youth and migrants) and gaps in care provision are only some of the most urgent indicators of the seriousness of what is at stake.

Read more

• CIVICUS calls for immediate release of Iranian activist Nasrin Sotoudeh
• African youth: Fulfilling the potential - Jay Naidoo
• CIVICUS: Reprisals against Bahraini human rights defenders must end
• Addressing conflict and violence from 2015: Saferworld issue papers
• Addressing conflict and violence from 2015: Saferworld issue papers
• Bahraini civil society leaders meet in The Hague and call for international support to stop repression and promote respect for human rights in Bahrain
• Bono and Jim Kim discuss steps to end poverty
• Philippines: President Aquino praises NGOs
• Russia: What changes lie in store for Non-Profit Organizations?
• Sierra Leone: Civil Society slams illegal detention of NEC staff
• The CIVICUS Secretariat is expanding - apply for a job now!
  
  • Research Manager (application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
  • United Nations (UN) Advocacy Officer (Application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
  • Research Officer (Application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
  • Senior Communications Officer (application deadline 30 Nov 2012)
  • Senior Convening Officer (application deadline 30 Nov 2012)
  • Senior Resource Mobilisation Officer (application deadline 30 Nov 2012)

Read this issue online or subscribe to recieve all future issues.

The Consul-General of South Korea in Lagos, Pilcheen Pak and the Chief Resident Representative, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Nigerian Office, Abuja, Mr. Jung Sang-Hoon, have pledged their country's commitment to the Federal Government in the areas of contributing to alleviation of poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Pak and Sang-Hoon spoke in Lagos during the meeting of KOICA Alumni Association (KAAN), South-West Branch, in Lagos.

The officials, while making the pledge, also tasked the KAAN alumni who were beneficiaries of Korean capacity-building in Seoul to efficiently employee the knowledge they learnt during their various courses in development of Nigeria.

Read more at The Guardian Nigeria

In her guest blog about the launch of Bread for the World’s 2013 Hunger Report, Asma Lateff argues that the MDGs have been remarkably successful in focusing the world’s attention on hunger and poverty.  Now it’s time for a strong push to meet the MDG targets by 2015.

Read the full blog

The high-level panel appointed by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to draw up a post-2015 development agenda might well be casting envious backward glances at the small team that drafted the Millennium Development Goals. Lord Mark Malloch-Brown explains how he and the small group wrote up the MDGs in the basement of the UN office in New York in "relative casualness", so much so they almost forgot to include a section on the environment – MDG seven on environmental sustainability.
Read more at the source: Guardian UK

The Global Youth Forum, held from 4-6 December in Bali, Indonesia, is a joint effort of the UN, NGOs, young people and the private sector to give young people a stronger voice in the ICPD2014 Operational Review process. Over 900 youth delegates will attend and develop recommendations to address five pressing issues. All recommendations will in turn feed directly into the designing of the future development goals.
 
As a member of the International Steering Committee, CIVICUS will attend the Global Youth Forum in Bali through its youth focal point, Natalie Akstein. She will be actively participating in the discussions, and reporting back through blogs and social media. However, we also want to make sure that the voice of our youth members and partners who cannot participate in Bali are heard throughout the Forum, via online and offline activities!

The core team of the UN System Task Team is organizing a Facebook chat on the post-2015 development agenda on Tuesday, 27 November 2012, 9.00 - 11.00 am.

This live chat will offer an opportunity for those following or interested in the post-2015 process to engage with members of the UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda. Rob Vos of UNDESA and other UN experts will share thoughts and answer questions. To participate in this interactive chat, go to this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/267857236670287/ .

A short video on the event can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZOh32C5Ac

•  Unravelling the significance of Rio+20 and the multi-stakeholder approach - Akashni Pillay, Akashni Pillay, Policy and Advocacy Intern at CIVICUS
• CIVICUS Board Member wins Minerva Award
• Add your voice to our growing global alliance - join CIVICUS today
• CIVICUS urges the Sri Lankan Government to reconsider rejection of UPR recommendations and stop persecution of civil society
• International CSOs urge the Ethiopian Prime Minister to make essential reforms before joining UN Human Rights Council
• Stakeholder Forum launches website to connect stakeholders on beyond 2015 agenda
• Cambodia: ASEAN adopts ‘flawed’ Human Rights declaration
• Ethiopia: German NGO pulls out
• India: Rise of civil society activists
• Philippines: Thoughts on NGOs/CSOs
• Russia: Putin to review foreign NGO law
• Empowering civil society is right approach to disaster recovery
• How much do non-profits budget for technology annually? Please participate in sector research
• State of the third sector in Belarus in 2009-2011: Data of monitoring carried out by United Way Belarusian National Non-Governmental Organization
• Exploring Sustainable Development: A multiple-perspective approach
• Job: CIVICUS - Research Manager (application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - United Nations (UN) Advocacy Officer (Application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - Research Officer (Application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - Senior Communications Officer (application deadline 30 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - Senior Convening Officer (application deadline 30 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - Senior Resource Mobilisation Officer (application deadline 30 Nov 2012)

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• Will Barack Obama live up to Civil Society expectations? by Mandeep Tiwana, Policy and Advocacy Manager
• Human rights defenders in Bangladesh are at constant risk: An interview with Adilur Rahman Khan on Bangladeshi CSO Odhikar
• Add your voice to our growing global alliance - join CIVICUS today
• Join up to the Ottawa Declaration: Recognition for volunteering on the global development agenda
• Join the Discussion: Global Thematic Consultation on Addressing Inequalities in the post-2015 development agend
• Burma: Civil Rights are key for democracy said the 88 Generation Students platform
• Egypt: The nationalisation of Egypt’s civil society
• Laos: International civil society warns nations of ‘resource grabbing’
• Tajikistan: Closure of the NGO "Amparo"
• Reaching for the sky: The importance of women's leadership
• Register Your Organization with the Youth Division of the AUC
• South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS)
• Job: CIVICUS - Research Manager (application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - United Nations (UN) Advocacy Officer (Application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
• Job: CIVICUS - Research Officer (Application deadline 23 Nov 2012)
• Job: Greenpeace - Chief Operating Officer (application deadline 20 Nov 2012)

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Many members of civil society felt that the Rio+20 final outcome document was a disappointment, but many also believed that the call to establish sustainable development goals (SDGs) creates an important and potentially transformative opportunity to positively shape the global human development agenda. As the UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda reported to the Secretary-General earlier this year, ‘Continuation along previously trodden economic growth pathways will exacerbate inequalities, social tensions and pressures on the world’s resources…There is therefore an urgent need…for new development pathways.’ The proposed SDGs are regarded by many as the best vehicle for responding to that pressing need.

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The event 'Post-Rio to Post-2015: Planning International Stakeholder Engagement' brought together Major Groups and Stakeholders to identify entry points for their involvement in the follow-up processes of Rio+20 and discuss ways to enhance multi-stakeholder engagement in the Post-2015 development agenda. As a result of the discussions, the co-Chairs of the event, Farooq Ullah, Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum, and Oliver Greenfield, Convenor, have prepared a Co-Chairs’ statement as an outcome document.  The statement concluded that when working with governments, the UN System and other stakeholders, we must seek to achieve coherence and integration across all decision-making processes within the post-Rio+20 and the post-2015 development agenda time period.

To read the full statement click here. For a full summary of the event, click here.

UNGA Update - 9 November 2012

Member States mandated 12 intergovernmental processes to implement Rio+20 outcomes to be established this fall by the 67th session of the UN General Assembly where NGOs and Major Groups have no official means to interact with Member States. As a first priority, the President of the General Assembly asked Brazil to coordinate the establishment of a 30 member Open Working Group for Sustainable Development (OWG) by September as required by the Rio+20 outcome document. Despite repeated attempts to do so, as of this date the UN 5 Regional Groups under the guidance of Brazil have been unable to come to agreement upon the number of seats each group will have on the OWG. Consequently, a "Committee of the Whole" comprised of all Member States managed by a bureau is now being considered. All other intergovernmental bodies mandated by Rio+20 have been put on hold until the establishment of the OWG.

Seeking to hold Member States accountable to their promise to "establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process on sustainable development goals that is open to all stakeholders" (para 248), the Organizing Partners (OPs) of the Major Groups put forward a "Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group" (MAG) proposal originally drafted by Louise Kantrow (OP Business & Industry) and Farooq Ullah (Stakeholder Forum) that was edited, discussed and approved by all OPs and forwarded to the missions of Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan, Switzerland, Denmark, EU and Canada. The OPs formed a fact finding mission that met with Amb. George Talbot, Chair of UNGA Second Committee (Economic & Financial) responsible for Rio+20 outcomes, at the Mission of Guyana on 24 October. Amb. Talbot welcomed the Major Groups MAG proposal as an important step to help ensure an open and inclusive intergovernmental process. He informed us that he expected the General Assembly to conclude its work at the end of November as scheduled which would be devoted to putting these various intergovernmental processes into place so that substantive negotiations could begin after the New Year.

Global Environmental Health and Sustainable Development Innovation Collaboration Webinar Series

IOM webinar series organized with support from:
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and The Pan American Health Organization PAHO/WHO
Webinar #2

"INTEGRATING THE MDGS WITH THE PILLARS AND PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT"

November 15, 2012 – Time: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm EDT ( Washington DC USA)

To check local time in WDC against your time zone, see the World Clock
This Webinar will be delivered in English with simultaneous translation to Spanish and close-captioned for the hearing impaired

Webinar Goals and Objectives:
• Discuss how the global development framework may evolve to include environmental, economic, and social goals of sustainable development.
• Provide a vision for integrating health and achieving intersectoral collaboration with the post-2015 development agenda process.
• Identify metrics for assessing trends and tracking progress on shared goals of global environmental health and sustainable development.

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We are pleased to share with you the Beyond 2015's paper for the UN thematic consultation on inequalities (see English version here- French and Spanish versions will be available soon). Thanks to the Drafting Team lead by the Bahaâ’i International Community’s United Nations Office and all of you for your feedback and active participation throughout the drafting process.