A Red Flag for the United Nations Friday January 30th, 2015
Ahead of this year’s Post-2015 negotiations, GCAP is issuing a Red Flag to the United Nations:
A RED FLAG FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
The Good, Bad & Ugly
of the UN Secretary General’s synthesis report, “The Road to Dignity”
What UN Member States Need to Know
Following nearly two years of High Level Panels, reports, consultations and negotiations, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has attempted to crystallise the broad array of inputs and the United Nations’ Open Working Group’s formulation of 17 Sustainable Development Goals into a set of 6 “essential elements”: People, Planet, Partnership, Dignity, Justice and Prosperity.
The Secretary-General notes that UN member states have a “duty to act – boldly, vigorously and expeditiously – to turn reality into a life of dignity for all, leaving no one behind”. His report addresses many civil society concerns, but while we congratulate the Secretary-General for not letting ambition be compromised at the altar of pragmatism and geopolitical intransigence, his report still falls short of putting in place the pillars of transformation needed to create just sustainable communities that are free from fear and want.
In March 2013, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty joined a broad cross-section of civil society representing diverse constituencies and communities around the world, including over one billion impoverished people, to issue a ‘Red Flag’ to the High Level Panel on Post-2015highlighting issues that must be addressed in any new sustainable development framework.
The UNSG Synthesis Report addresses some of these concerns and we must ensure that the relevant proposals (noted below) are included in the final Post-2015 framework. Yet at the same time, manyof the crucial issues that we raised are not being adequately addressed by political leaders. As the members of the United Nations work to finalise the Post-2015 framework over the coming year, GCAP is obliged to raise a new Red Flag. For us to support the Sustainable Development Goals – as well as expected agreements in the areas of Financing for Development, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change – systemic change is needed and the following ten points must be reflected in the final documents that are the focus of intergovernmental negotiations over the coming months.