An inspired Facebook update or a 140-character tweet could play a key role in shaping global development plans.

Over the next few weeks, policymakers are seeking input from the public via social media channels as they craft a sustainable development goal to address global water-management concerns and ensure water is available in the future for food and industrial production, for drinking and for sanitation.

Experts hope the internet-based public water consultation will help them forge streamlined goals for the post-2015 development agenda by building consensus around three main aspects of water management: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); water resources; wastewater management and water quality.

The vox-populi process is part of a broader effort by the United Nations (U.N.) to collate views on 11 overarching consultation topics that would replace the eight anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established in 2000, some of which are likely to remain unmet by the 2015 deadline.

 Read more at AlertNet

CIVICUS is pleased to announce the launch of a new Youth Advisory Group to promote youth participation across the civil society alliance and throughout its programming.

The Youth Advisory Group, whose initial term will last one year from January to December 2013, have been tasked with helping CIVICUS to mainstream youth across its programmes, with developing new activities and initiatives specifically supporting youth participation, and with building new partnerships and connections across civil society.

During an extensive and open selection process in December 2012 and January 2013, CIVICUS received over 100 applications from youth all over the world, with many high quality applications from outstanding candidates. After a number of difficult decisions, CIVICUS was able to identify the 10 youth leaders who will now champion youth participation in the alliance for the coming year.

The CIVICUS Youth Advisory Group
Alfonso Aliberti, Italy
Sanka Chandima Abayawardena, Sri Lanka
Aya Chebbi, Tunisia
Patrick Mpedzisi, Zimbabwe
Liam O’Doherty, Canada
Bukola Oyinloye, Nigeria
Ivana Savich, Serbia
Ponce Ernest Samaniego, Philippines
Brittany Trilford, New Zealand
Pauline Wanja, Kenya

Click here to read the full profiles of the new Youth Advisory Group

For more information about the Youth Advisory Group, please contact Natalie Akstein at

The country is still lagging behind in achieving certain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically in attaining universal primary education, maternal health, but most of all in battling inequality, according to a civil society group.

Leonor Magtolis-Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, explained to members of the House of Representatives how far President Benigno Aquino III has taken his “daang matuwid” (straight path) and what the government needs to address as the MDGs draw to a close by 2015.

The assessments Briones made were part of Social Watch Philippines’ report entitled “Breaking Through to Sustainability,” copies of which the group furnished the House of Representatives with on Wednesday.

Read more at Inquirer News

VSO today (22 January) welcomed the International Development Select Committee’s new report on post-2015 development goals, particularly one of its key conclusions: that advancing women’s rights is central to development and must be included in the post-2015 framework.

The International development organisation added that a commitment to tackling gender equality must be a key element of global efforts to end extreme poverty.

VSO Chief Executive Marg Mayne said: “The IDC is right to urge a post-2015 commitment to ending extreme poverty. But we must recognise that tackling the inequality faced by women and girls worldwide is essential if we are to achieve that goal.

Read more at Volunteers Overcoming Poverty (VSO)

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The 2013 CIVICUS Nelson Mandela-Graça Machel Innovation Awards will provide seed funding for innovative ideas emerging from CIVICUS members who attended the 2012 CIVICUS World Assembly, and based on the theme of last year’s assembly, “Defining a new social contract – Making the future together.”

The CIVICUS World Assembly serves as the primary point of convergence for excellence – of ideas, perspectives, experiences, partnerships and commitments – aiming at enhancing citizen participation, civil society and civic rights worldwide. CIVICUS wants the World Assembly to be a true learning experience for all the participants, encouraging them to take actions forward.

If you have been inspired by the 2012 World Assembly thematic track on “Building partnerships for social innovation” to initiate a new and creative relationship or dialogue between usually non-connected organisations, actors and/or sectors to bring social change at a local level, we invite you to apply for the 2013 CIVICUS Nelson Mandela-Graça Machel Innovation Award. This year CIVICUS will fund innovative multi-stakeholders discussions with eight award grants of USD 3,000 each.

Application Guidelines
Please submit your application through our online questionnaire.
Only complete applications will be considered. You may submit in English, French or Spanish.

Read the full announcement in English, French or Spanish.

The UK parliament's international development select committee's report on post 2015 development goals has received a cautious welcome from IDS experts.

In their own evidence to the Committee, IDS fellows stressed that a focus on people and politics is crucial to the success of any new development framework.

Lawrence Haddad said:
"In the race to reach the 2015 finish line for the creation of a new development framework, we must not lose sight of the people and politics that will ensure its success. The select committee report makes some welcome recommendations, including one on how a new framework should reflect the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. The importance of meaningfully involving people in the design and implementation of whatever succeeds the Millennium Development Goals cannot be underestimated. Any new goals must articulate a global shared responsibility which is underpinned by targets that are set according to national priorities and to which citizens can hold their governments to account."

Read more at Institute of Development Studies

The atmosphere was pensive and highly emotional at the Professor Mahmoud F. Fathalla, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and chair of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research was reciting the proposed 10 manifestos for maternal health post-2015.

Some couldn't control it, as tears dropped and the entire hall gave him a standing ovation at the end of the citation. It wasn't an ovation for the respected professor only but an ovation that depicts people's resolve to support the implementation of the manifestos.

It was the closing ceremony of the 2nd Maternal Global Health Conference which took place from January 15 to 17, 2013, with over 800 experts in maternal health that came together in Arusha, Tanzania, to present the latest evidence on improving the quality of care for women during pregnancy and childbirth.

Read more at allAfrica

The General Assembly, recalling its resolution 66/288 of 27 July 2012, in which it endorsed the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want”:

(a) Decides to establish the Open Working Group on Sustainable
Development Goals, in accordance with paragraph 248 of the outcome document;

(b) Welcomes the membership of the Open Working Group as designated by
the five United Nations regional groups and as listed in the annex to the present
decision.

As part of the Rio+20 Conference follow up, governments stated that they would establish the 30 member inter-governmental Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by September 2012.

Member States will nominate representatives from the five United Nations regional groups, with the aim of achieving fair, equitable, and balanced geographic representation. In addition, paragraph 248 of The Future We Want, instructs the United Nations “to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process on sustainable development goals that is open to all stakeholders”. Thus, in order to adhere to the requirements of The Future We Want and maximize its effectiveness, the OWG needs to ensure that it has recognized effective and on-going engagement of stakeholders.

report on the debate about the development framework to follow the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. The report wraps up the IDC’s ‘enquiry’ on the post-MDGs during which they heard from VIPs like Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Post-2015, as well as a range of academics and civil society actors, including written evidence submitted by the AfGH UK network.

The report is a departure from the usual work of the IDC holding the Government to account on their development work. Here they are informing and shaping the future agenda. There is much to welcome in the report. Critically for AfGH, the IDC has put its weight behind the potential of Universal Health Coverage as an important way to capture different health needs and interests in the next development framework. It notes that this needs to be done in such a way that the current MDG emphasis on maternal and child health is not lost and elsewhere that the vital unfinished business of the MDGs, which includes all of the health targets, is not forgotten.

Read more at Action for Global Health

Considering the MDGs deadline was still three years away, 2012 was a surprisingly busy year for the post-2015 agenda. We've seen the UN high-level panel (HLP) formed and its first meetings held in New York and London, alongside a flurry of policy talks and UN consultations on what the world wants from any new goals. Whatever happens in the final negotiations, it's already clear that much of the job to keep this agenda on track will have to happen much sooner – starting now.

So 2013 is an important year. It's the year the panel submits its recommendations to the UN secretary general, and the year that the finally established Open Working Group on sustainable development goals (SDGs) sets the direction of its work (with a mandate overlapping that of the HLP). It's also the year that the UN will have to wrap up as many as 11 global consultations to gather wider views on the emerging agenda.

Despite progress we might have made during the MDGs, there clearly remains a big job ahead for post-2015 goals. One which is very different to the one we might have imagined a decade ago when the MDGs were agreed.

Read more at The Guardian

The international development committee (IDC) has called on David Cameron, the UK prime minister, to give a "clear and consistent" definition of what he means by the "golden thread" of development as he seeks to influence global policy on poverty reduction.

Cameron's influential role in determining what comes after the millennium development goals (MDGs) in 2015 makes the need for a plain explanation of the term important, the committee says in its latest report.

"The prime minister has defined the 'golden thread' in a number of different ways. We recommend that the prime minster give a clear and consistent definition of what he means by the 'golden thread' in response to this report given its im/portance in his thinking on the post-2015 framework and goals," said the IDC report, which made recommendations on what MPs believe should be considered in the post-2015 talks.

Read more at globaldevelopment

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)

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