Roundtable on Developing the Future Agenda: Post 2015 Millennium Development Goals

1. Roundtable on Developing the Future Agenda:Post 2015 Millennium Development Goals 15 February 2013 CII NR Headquarters, Chandigarh

2. History of the MDGs • International Development Goals (IDGs) emerged from a series of international conferences (e.g. gender, children, health, education and population) in the 1990s. • In 2000, the Millennium Declaration was adopted but did not contain the MDGs in their present form. In 2001, a team of UN experts created the MDGs with indicators, without any inter-governmental process. “I and several of [Kofi Annan’s] staff literally went into the proverbial windowless committee room and wrote the MDGs. I have spent many a year since wishing I had taken a little more time to write them as I might have made them slightly more inclusive and polished.” • (Mark Malloch Brown, former UNDP Administrator, Feb 2011) • Mainly European donors supported the MDGs, while the MDGs faced strong opposition and skepticism from many governments as well as Northern and Southern NGOs for the initial five years. By the latter half of the decade, the MDGs had gained traction and became an important organizing principle for a large number of development actors.

3. Strengths of the MDG Framework • The limited number of goals and targets on which there is global consensus and through which popular support and political action can be mobilised. • Useful leverage for increased aid volumes. (i.e. Millennium Project’s estimated resource requirement became the target for G8 in Gleneagles in 2005.) • Focused aid on the social sectors in general and on some specific areas, such as primary education and child health. • Useful vehicle for CSOs to hold their governments to account for the public promise. • MDGs encouraged the collection of better data to assess their progress.

4. Weaknesses of the MDG Framework • Lack of participation in the formulation process • Masking inequalities by focusing on the global and national averages. • Lack of commitments by rich countries with the Goal 8 without specific quantified targets or dates • MDGs left out some key issues of importance to development (e.g. climate change, conflict, security, disability)

5. MDGs in India – an overview • Goal 1 Poverty: Slow on indicators for poverty and hunger; targets wont be met • Goal 2 Universal Primary Education: Performance mixed. Primary enrollment and completion on track but slow on last grade completion. • Goal 3 Promote Gender Equality: Gender parity in education achieved in primary and secondary education • Goal 4 Reduce child mortality: Slow on both infant and under 5 mortality • Goal 5 Improve maternal health: Slow on all maternal health indicators • Goal 6 Combat HIV / AIDS, TB, Malaria and other diseases: Early achiever on HIV, on track on TB incidence but regressing on prevalence • Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability: On track on all indicators except on basic sanitation where it is slow

6. Mid Point and the Way Forward • Context: Economic and Financial Crisis; worsening peace and security; impending energy and fuel crisis • Review of the MDG progress at a High Level Meeting in the UN General Assembly, 2010 • Secretary General’s report “Keeping the Promise” – roadmap and call to action for MDG acceleration • Secretary General’s 2011 report on MDG progress and key considerations for a new agenda post 2015

7. Globally, mechanisms have been put in place to support the post 2015 development debate • UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons, and 23 panel members appointed by the SG to advise him on post-2015 agenda. • UNDP and UNDESA requested by SG to establish a group of technical experts to coordinate the assessment of system-wide efforts, and propose a unified version and road -map for a post 2015 development agenda, in consultation with all stakeholders • Rio + 20: High-level inter-governmental working group to report to the SG on Sustainable Development Goals

8. The UN facilitated post-2015 consultations • Country consultations in 100 countries (approx), including India. These are expected to complement the formal consultations on post-2015 led by the UN Secretariat on behalf of the UNGAUNCTs, under the leadership and guidance of the UNRC to support the national consultation • Thematic Consultations – nine regional/global consultations with academia, media, private sector, employers, trade unions, civil society and decision makers, including Parliamentarians UN agencies co-leading consultations • Web portal to allow for open interaction and information exchange building – an online discussion forumwww.worldwewant2015.org

9. Key processes in the Asia Pacific and India • National Consultation, in partnership with the Industry, Civil Society, youth and other stakeholders – report to be submitted to UNDG as input for the High Level Panel Report by first quarter of 2013 • UN Millennium Campaign led processes as inputs to the national consultation, i) Breaking Point Research in partnership with Commonwealth Foundation on progress on the MDGs/post-2015 framework (ii) Parliamentarian’s Conference on MDGs and post 2015 agenda – Manila, Dhaka and Bali • My World survey • Thematic consultation on Women, Muslims, Dalits, Urban Migrants, Education, Child Rights etc by CSOs in partnership with various UN agencies

10. Emerging Post 2015 key messages • The core values contained in the Millennium Declaration remain valid: The Post 2015 framework is an opportunity to incorporate issues that were part of the Millennium Declaration but were not reflected in the MDGs – e.g. human rights, environmental sustainability, peace and security • The Post 2015 development agenda must be universally applicable but flexible to meet specific needs of countries and peoples • Global partnerships must be re-defined to make it truly “global” with a clear accountability framework for both developed and developing countries

11. India@75 : Chandigarh

12. India@75 : Chandigarh

13. India@75 : Chandigarh