United Nations and Ethiopian officials signed an agreement in preparation for the High-Level Symposium on ‘A renewed global partnership for development for the post-2015 era’, to be held in Addis Ababa from 6 to 7 June 2013.
As discussions on a post-2015 development agenda are accelerating, the ECOSOC Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) is supporting the process by advancing the dialogue on the future of development cooperation in the post-2015 setting. Preparations are in full swing for the fourth Forum, to be held in New York in July 2014. The DCF, a key function of ECOSOC, fosters global dialogue and policy review on international development cooperation. The Forum serves to improve the coherence and effectiveness of development cooperation, in producing policy guidance and practical recommendations.
There is broad agreement that the post-2015 development agenda must be supported by a global partnership for development that encourages cooperative action by all stakeholders and effectively supports implementation of the goals and targets. With its multi-stakeholder convening power, the DCF is now launching a dialogue in Ethiopia on the potential role, principles and strategic priorities of such a renewed global partnership for development, as well as its key features and working practices. Discussions at the High-Level Symposium will also consider what could be the role of enhanced monitoring and accountability to underpin such a partnership.
The Host-Country-Agreement represents a major step in finalizing the preparations for the symposium. Signed on 17 May 2013 by Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo, and Tekeda Alemu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Federal Government of Ethiopia to the United Nations, the agreement defines the responsibilities of both partners in the symposium.
“This agreement marks a milestone on our way to the Ethiopia High-Level Symposium,” Mr. Wu said. “The outcomes of this symposium will directly contribute to the deliberations on the post-2015 UN development agenda and provide important recommendations for the 2014 ECOSOC DCF. The findings will also be relevant for the Open Working Group when discussing a global partnership for sustainable development in December 2013.”
The symposium will engage senior representatives from developing and developed countries, parliamentarians, civil society, the private sector and international organizations to discuss their experiences with the current global partnership and expectations for how it should work in the post-2015 setting. A number of pre-meetings and side events will allow stakeholders to further deepen these discussions. They will include events for civil society, least developed countries, members of parliament, members of the Steering Committee of the Global partnership for effective development cooperation and the DCF Advisory Group. A meeting of Directors-General of Southern partners in development cooperation will also be convened jointly by UN-DESA and Ethiopia on the afternoon on 7 June 2013.
