Civil Society Development Forum 2007
“A Platform for Development: Countdown to 2015”
28-30 June 2007
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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