The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Government of Germany are co-hosting the Development Cooperation Forum Germany High-level Symposium, beginning today, to explore how development cooperation by governments, the private sector and foundations, civil society and other partners can be designed to help achieve lasting results that improve people’s lives and the planet through sustainable development.
With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set to conclude at the end of 2015, world leaders have called for an ambitious long-term sustainability agenda to succeed the MDGs. Building on the successes of the MDGs, this post-2015 development agenda will address any unfinished business of the MDGs and new challenges and complexities facing the world, with sustainable development at its core and poverty eradication as its highest priority.
Implementing this transformative agenda will require a renewed global partnership for development and robust monitoring and accountability. More than 170 High-level experts from national and local governments, civil society organizations and academia, parliaments, foundations and the private sector and multilateral organizations are expected to participate in a series of interactive dialogues and workshops on this theme at the Symposium. One key question to be explored will be how these actors can hold each other effectively accountable for commitments in development cooperation, post-2015.
Through the Development Cooperation Forum, the United Nations Economic and Social Council is advancing an inclusive, global approach to development cooperation post-2015 – one that fits the scale and scope of action required. The Development Cooperation Forum is preparing to promote global accountability and effectiveness in development cooperation, to help ensure delivery on commitments and lasting results for development.
“Poverty is still rampant and we face ever more daunting global development challenges,” said Under-Secretary-General, Wu Hongbo. “Development cooperation is key to addressing them. We have an obligation and opportunity to ensure that existing and new promises are translated into real development outcomes.”
Symposium to contribute to key negotiations on post-2015
The meeting will make an important contribution to the dialogue on the post-2015 development agenda. Key messages from the Symposium will shared with the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals and the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, which are being led by UN Member States. They will also inform the High-level Meeting of the Busan Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation in Mexico in April 2014.
The outcomes from the Symposium will contribute to the 2014 Development Cooperation Forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, to be held in New York on 10-11 July. The 2014 DCF will help to advance the global dialogue on the future of development cooperation in the post-2015 development agenda.
