Press Conference on Launch of Report on Post-2015 Development Agenda

New global partnerships should be a core part of the transformative shifts needed to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 and build on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals, members of a high-level panel said today at a Headquarters press conference.

The report, entitled “A New Global Partnership:  Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development”, was issued by the High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which was established by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and co-chaired by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron.

The 69-page publication lays out a post-2015 development agenda that was created after extensive consultations that included women, men, young people, civil society organizations, the private sector, trade unions and Government officials from around the world.  It contains an illustrative list of 12 goals and 54 targets, the achievement of which would dramatically improve the condition of people and the planet by 2030.

John Podesta, a High-level Panel member and Chair of the Center for American Progress, said the Panel’s work began with an analysis of the effective elements of the Millennium Development Goals and the work needed to be completed to finish the job.  The report details five transformational shifts needed to drive the post-2015 agenda:  leave no one behind; put sustainable development at the core; transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth; build peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all; and forge a new global partnership.

Joining him at the press conference were fellow panellists Betty Maina, Chief Executive of Kenya’s Association of Manufacturers, Patricia Espinosa, former Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico, and Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to the United Nation Secretary-General for Post-2015 Development Planning and ex-officio member of the Panel.

Ms. Espinosa, answering a question about the plausibility of achieving such an agenda in a world of widespread conflict, remarked that the new agenda was very ambitious.  However, the report also clearly stated that the goals could not be achieved if the international community continued to do business as it had in the past.  Institutions had to be built up, people had to have access to basic human services and human rights had to be upheld.  Further, Governments and people needed to shift their consciousness and understand that events in one small country would impact many other countries.  One nation’s economic growth was closely linked to what happened in another area.  “It is not a North-South conversation.  It is a global conversation,” she stressed.

Ms. Maina, responding to a comment that progress in the Millennium Development Goals hinged on international aid provided by the developed countries, said the post-development agenda emphasized the need to expand responsibility for development to all actors.  There was a role for international aid and a role for developing countries to mobilize their resources and use their budgets to tackle the issues that created poverty.  Business was expected to play a key role, as well, and therefore, it was important to create an environment for businesses to survive.  In addition, developed countries had to reduce their consumption.

Ms. Mohammed pointed out that young people and labour would continue to play important roles in the changes needed to provide jobs for young people.  She noted the cynicism that surrounds the efforts to eradicate poverty.  “This is the beginning of the discussion,” she said.  “Transformation is transitional.”

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For information media • not an official record