At a briefing for non-governmental organizations, UN officials leading the discussions on the creation of a post-2015 development agenda said they are eager to hear the concerns of civil society as they move forward.

“What Rio+20 taught us is that governments can’t do it alone,” said John W. Ashe, president of the UN General Assembly, adding that governments realize that civil society and other stakeholders must be involved in setting new development goals.

“I am asking you as civil society to tell us what is it you would like to see in the post-2015 development agenda,” he said.

President Ashe also said the list of themes and possible goals for a post-2015 agenda is wide open. “There is no agenda (yet),” he said. “There are a lot of ideas out there. I am starting the process at the intergovernmental level. I would like for you to be a part of that.”

Held 22 September 2013, the three-hour briefing was sponsored by the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs, Stakeholder Forum, CIVICUS, and The World We Want. It sought to facilitate dialogue between Major Groups and other stakeholders, UN bodies and government representatives.

One of the main topics was to explain the relationship between the so-called post-MDG agenda and the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set to expire in 2015, one track of thinking has advocated for new goals that would, like the MDGs, focus mainly on poverty eradication.

At the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, however, governments urged adoption of a set of SDGs that take a longer term view of development, with a balanced approach that addresses three dimensions – social, economic and environmental – of development.

A number of speakers said the twin tracks are increasingly converging, as governments, stakeholders, and UN officials realize that poverty eradication and environmental protection go hand in hand.

“Everyone has acknowledged that these are basically two sides of the same coin,” said Bernadette Fischler, a policy analyst with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).

Ming Hwee Chong, a representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, spoke on the same panel with Ms. Fischler, offering some reflections on the evolution of the process for setting the international development agenda.

“The geopolitical map is much more complex today than it was in 2000. The lines between developed and developing countries are blurring, and the adversarial, traditional, reductionist categories of North/South, donor/recipient are no longer helpful.”

“We are also witnessing an explosion of actors beyond traditional state institutions, such as social movements, the business sector, philanthropic foundations, etc.”

These and other changes mean that “any policies or programs can only have relevance, legitimacy, integrity and progress, if there is participation of people in the decisions and the processes and structures that impact their own lives,” said Mr. Chong.

Accordingly, he said, while the formulation of new goals will be undoubtedly helpful in providing “broad, strategic and aspirational guidance,” they are surely not the “be all and end all of development.”

What is important is the “universal participation” of the world’s peoples in not only setting the development agenda but in actually becoming empowered to be protagonists of their development, he said.

“Enduring social change comes not from what we do for others – it comes from the building of capacity of each one of us to participate in construction of a better world,” said Mr. Chong.

To view the program, click here.

To view a related article in the Outreach newsletter by Mr. Chong, click here.