Panel de Alto Nivel de Bali: Los trabajadores participan en la Agenda de Desarrollo Post 2015

The international development community continues to mobilize towards the process of developing a successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals.

Currently, the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons for the Post 2015 UN International Development Agenda (HLP) is working to produce a report in which they will offer recommendations for consideration by UN Member States when agreeing the post-MDG framework. This work is taking place in parallel to the efforts of the Open Working Group to develop a set of recommendations for the Sustainable Development Goals as mandated by the Rio+ Conference for UN Member States deliberations. How the two processes will ultimately intersect or complement each other is still yet to be fully defined.

By May 2013 the HLP will have met six times to deliberate priorities for the Post 2015 Development Agenda, including most recently in Bali, Indonesia from 25-27 March 2013. At three of these meetings (London, November 2012; Monrovia, January 2013; Bali, March 2013) the HLP also conducted an outreach day with civil society actors, the private sector and parliamentarians to engage in a dialogue on the Post 2015 issues.

The trade union movement has actively tried to influence the HLP process since London, in order to try to ensure that the Post 2015 framework responds to the demands of workers around the world, in particular the need for commitments to Full Employment and Decent Work for All and Universal Social Protection. This has been through participation in the official outreach engagements and also through informal channels. For the most recent HLP meeting and outreach activities in Bali, the ITUC coordinated a small international delegation of trade unionists from ITUC-Africa, the East Africa Trade Union Confederation and the Federation of Free Workers (Philippines) and was joined by a local delegation from KSBSI.

During the outreach day, the ITUC organized a roundtable on Informal Economy and Inclusion, which brought together members of the HLP (or their advisers) and members of civil society representing trade unions, informal workers, domestic workers, migrant workers, peoples with disabilities, street vendors, fisherfolk and sex workers. The trade unionists along with the other constituencies presented compelling messages highlighting the importance of Decent Work and Universal Social Protection for overcoming the social and economic exclusion as a result of informal work.

The HLP is expected to produce a first draft of its report and recommendations by mid-April 2013 with a view to finalizing it by early May 2013. Upon finalizing the report and submitting it to Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, the process for developing the Post 2015 Development Framework will move to the UN for political deliberations taking into consideration the recommendations from the HLP. For the ITUC, it is clear that this is when the process will truly launch.

Second Steering Committee Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

The second meeting of the Steering Committee of Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) took place in Bali just ahead of the fourth meeting of the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 UN International Development Agenda. The meeting was chaired by ministers from Indonesia, Nigeria and the UK on the first day and by senior officials from these same governments on the second day. Richard Ssewakiryanga from the Uganda NGO Forum and one of the Co-Chairs of the Civil Society Partnership for Development Effectiveness was the Civil Society Representative to the meeting.

The steering committee aimed to set a broad vision for the work toward the first GPEDC Ministerial Meeting which will likely take place on or around the two year anniversary of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid and Development Effectiveness, in November or December of 2013. In order to attract high level political attention the Ministerial Meeting will likely be framed broadly around eradicating extreme poverty, generating wealth and promoting inclusive development. More specifically, the Ministerial agenda will look at Domestic Resource Mobilization, Knowledge Sharing, Private Sector and Inclusive Development.

Article by Matt Simonds, TUAC/ITUC