The High-level Segment of ECOSOC will take place from 6-10 July at UN Headquarters in New York. With 2015 as the MDG target date, the event will address the significance and impact of the MDGs and look forward to the unified, universal and integrated post-2015 development agenda, to be adopted in September, with poverty eradication and sustainable development as its core objectives.

The High-level Segment will include the ministerial portion of the high-level political forum (HLPF) on sustainable development, under the auspices of the Council, on 6-8 July, and the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) of ECOSOC on 9-10 July.

Ministerial Segment of the HLPF (6 – 8 July)

The Ministerial segment of the HLPF will address the challenges to realizing a transformative agenda, with its work organized around the theme, “Strengthening integration, implementation and review – the HLPF after 2015”. The first morning will be dedicated to taking stock of the discussions during the previous five days. Time will also be devoted to reflect on new and emerging issues.

Annual Ministerial Review (9 – 10 July)

The Annual Ministerial Review will focus on the 2015 ECOSOC theme, “Managing the transition from the MDGs to the sustainable development goals: what it will take”.

The meeting will feature high-level keynote addresses in the afternoon of Wednesday, 8 July. The interactive sessions that follow on 9 and 10 July will include: (i) lessons learned from the MDGs for the future; (ii) analysis of the headwinds in the global economy with the international trade and financial institutions; (iii) approaches to the transition at the regional level; and (iv) a thematic discussion on the role of institutions in implementing the post-2015 development agenda. Reports of the Secretary-General on the ECOSOC main theme and the theme of the thematic discussion were prepared in support of the deliberations.

The AMR will also include a review of implementation of the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020, giving a particular focus to LDCs and their specific needs for the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. The High-level Segment will also feature the AMR National Voluntary Presentations. Four countries – Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines and Zambia – will make voluntary presentations on their progress in implementing the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, and the transition to the SDGs.

For more information:

United Nations Economic and Social Council

Equality counts among the six guiding values for cooperative enterprises and it will take centre stage at the International Day of Cooperatives this year, as DSPD Focal Point on Cooperatives in partnership with the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) will organize a panel discussion on “Choose cooperatives, choose equality” on 8 July at UN Headquarters in New York.

Cooperative enterprises also have a “one member, one vote” system, which ensures that decision making powers are equally shared among their members. Being people-centred enterprises, cooperatives focus on the needs of their members and of the communities in which they operate, rather than on financial returns alone.

2015 represents an important year for equality. In terms of gender equality and women’s empowerment, 2015 marks 20 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action  for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This year will also see the adoption of a post-2015 development agenda by UN Member States, in order to take up the work begun by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The proposed agenda currently contains seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , including specific goals to achieve gender equality and reduce inequality within and among countries.

For more information: International Day of Cooperatives