Annotated
Agenda
"Strengthening efforts at all levels to promote pro-poor
sustained economic growth, including through equitable macroeconomic
policies”
"Strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger,
including through the global partnership for development"
The
overarching objective of the Forum is to formulate specific
recommendations on the above key themes for subsequent interactive
discussion with the participants at the High-Level Segment of
ECOSOC’s Substantive Session.
A
critical review of the results obtained so far in meeting the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has become an urgent matter.
We have reached midway between the time governments agreed on
the MDGs and the target date for achieving them.
Day 1 : Thursday, 28 June 2007
Keynote
speech: “Strengthening the development agenda through
UN reform and civil society's critical and constructive engagement
in that process”.
ECOSOC:
Following up on the 2005 World Summit, the UN General Assembly
(GA) proceeded with a reform of ECOSOC, its central development-focused
body. It wanted to reinvigorate ECOSOC as a principal body for
coordination and review of economic and social development policies,
including the implementation of the MDGs. ECOSOC should serve
as a multi-stakeholder platform for high-level engagement, including
governments and civil society. It is to hold annual ministerial-level
substantive reviews and a biennial high-level Development Cooperation
Forum to review trends in international development cooperation.
Civil
society: The GA welcomed the positive contributions of
civil society in the promotion and implementation of development
and human rights programmes. It encouraged dialogue, as reflected
in its first informal interactive hearings with civil society
representatives. The Forum needs to critically assess to what
extent its interventions in ECOSOC have actually been successful,
the contributions it can make to the work of the two new ECOSOC
mechanisms and the further lobbying required for civil society
to be recognized as a partner in its decision-making.
The
Forum’s assessment is to flow into the decision-making
process of ECOSOC’s High-Level Segment, which will take
place immediately after the Forum.
Keynote
speech and cluster: “Eradication of poverty and hunger”.
The
GA affirmed its determination to ensure the timely and full
realization of the MDGs and to stimulate poverty eradication.
It remained concerned about the slow and uneven progress achieved
so far. The first-ever annual ministerial-level review is to
focus therefore on strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty
and hunger.
The
UN MDGs Report 2006 indicates that it is not evident that the
target, i.e. to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion
of people whose income is less than $ 1 a day, can be reached.
Progress in halving the proportion of people suffering from
hunger is not fast enough: The number of people affected by
chronic hunger has actually increased during several years of
that time-span.
The
Forum will examine this topic from various perspectives, considering
issues of human rights, food aid, food production potentials,
gender and community initiatives.
Roundtable:
"UN reform: civil society's voice".
Since
the mid-1990s civil society has been increasingly given the
opportunity to participate actively in several UN bodies, partially
as a result of their internal reform process. It can thus better
influence their strategies and output, thereby giving a stronger
legitimacy to their activities (example: World Summit on the
Information Society). However, in the case of one of the most
important pillars of UN reform, the Human Rights Council, civil
society still needs to be vigilant towards potential restrictions
limiting its right to participate fully in the Council’s
deliberations and decision-making process.
The
roundtable discussion will focus on the degree of participation
open to civil society in the decision-making processes of various
UN fora and the need to influence the thrust of their reforms.
Day 2 : Friday, 29 June 2007
Keynote
speech and cluster: “Pro-poor growth”.
ECOSOC
decided, in light of the slow and uneven progress in achieving
sustained growth, to focus the thematic debate of its Substantive
Session on the topic: “Strengthening efforts at all levels
to promote pro-poor sustained economic growth, including through
equitable macroeconomic policies”. Asia leads the decline
in global poverty while sub-Saharan Africa’s poverty rate
declined only marginally, the number of its extreme poor actually
increased. Primary education, health and basic sanitation indicators
point in the same direction. Donor country pledges made two
years ago to massively increase aid, in particular to Africa,
have not yet been implemented.
The
Forum is to review the causes of this uneven progress and the
quality of pro-poor strategies, and to call on the donor community
to improve the size, quality and timeliness of its assistance.
Roundtable:
“MDGs- Countdown to 2015 – Is the glass half-full?”
Governments
expressed their determination to ensure the timely and full
realization of the MDGs. The eradication of poverty and hunger
was considered crucial for that achievement. The efforts of
developing countries were to be supported by increased development
assistance, the promotion of international trade, the transfer
of technology, increased investment flows and wider and deeper
debt relief.
Progress
in achieving the MDGs has been slow and uneven, with sub-Saharan
Africa particularly lagging behind. There is a distinct risk
that no significant progress will be made overall in attaining
the target to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of
people who suffer from hunger.
The
roundtable discussion will focus on an assessment of the accomplishments
and impediments encountered so far in meeting the MDGs.
Roundtable:
“Follow-up on ECOSOC’s High-Level Segment 2006 on
"Full and productive employment and decent work"
The
Civil Society Forum to the High-Level Segment of ECOSOC’s
2006 Substantive Session debated on the subject: “Creating
an environment at the national and international levels conducive
to generating full and productive employment and decent work
for all, and its impact on sustainable development”. The
Forum concluded that effective sustainable solutions remain
to be found for full decent employment and recommended the establishment
of a high-level expert working group to develop a plan for the
implementation of a sustainable basic income for all people.
It called for debt cancellation and swaps benefiting decent
work and employment policies, and the strengthening of labour
ministries.
The
subsequent Ministerial Declaration concluded that an environment
at national and international levels needs to be created urgently
that is conducive to the attainment of full and productive employment
and decent work for all as a foundation for sustainable development.
The
roundtable discussion will review the policies announced in
the Ministerial Declaration against the background of the 2006
Civil Society Forum conclusions and the effectiveness of these
policies, so far, in meeting the MDGs.
Day 3 : Saturday, 30 June 2007
Roundtable:
“Pro-poor ICT policies and strategies”.
The
Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) calls for harnessing the potential of information
and communication technology to promote the MDGs, especially
the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. It acknowledges
that the benefits of the information technology revolution are
unevenly distributed between developed and developing countries
and within societies.
CONGO,
together with its partners, obtained recognition of the multi-stakeholder
approach within the WSIS process, thus enabling civil society
to participate as a full partner and to emphasize the need for
WSIS anti-poverty strategies.
The
roundtable discussion is to focus on an assessment of the achievements
reached since the WSIS Summits in 2003 and 2005 in reducing
the digital divide between developed and developing countries.
Roundtable
on “Innovative strategies for Civil Society”
This
roundtable is intended as a brainstorming session on ways and
means to obtain more space for civil society in UN debates and
decision-making processes.
Organization of the Plenary Meetings, Roundtables and Workshops
Plenary Meetings
Plenary
meetings are intended to familiarize all participants with the
main topics debated during the Forum. The keynote speakers will
therefore highlight various, often controversial, aspects of
such topics and thus contribute to subsequent lively debates
between the workshop members. It is recommended that these speakers
do not read prepared statements but speak freely for about 10
minutes each. Following their presentations the floor will be
open for interventions by the plenary.
Clusters
and Roundtables
The
participants at cluster and roundtable meetings will develop,
by interacting with each other in front of the plenary, their
individual positions on topics they are particularly familiar
with. Each participant will be allocated up to 10 minutes of
speaking time. They will therefore not read from prepared statements
but rather speak to them, freely about their topics and engage
in a discussion with other participants. At the conclusion of
their discussion the floor will be open for interventions by
the plenary.
Workshops
The
participants of workshops will get together separately, in individual
meeting rooms, where they discuss their topics as much as possible
in depth. They are free to organize themselves by selecting
their own moderators and rapporteurs. At the end of their discussions
they agree on a summary of their debates and conclusions, even
if these are diverging, for presentation in the plenary and
the preparation of a consolidated report on the Forum’s
proceedings. They should keep in mind that these conclusions
will be debated in an interactive discussion with the High-Level
Segment of ECOSOC’s Substantive Session and should flow
into ECOSOC’s decision-making process.
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