Location: United Nations Headquarters, ECOSOC Chamber
What is being discussed? On May 31st (12:01am EST) the report of the High Level Panel (HLP) on the post-2015 development agenda will be available to stakeholders, following the submission of the same to the UN Secretary General the previous day. A number of UN agencies and stakeholder groups have come together to organize a discussion of the report taking advantage of the Panel’s presence in New York at this time. This event will take place at a critical time in the post-2015 process as the HLP report serves as the opening chapter of a fairly lengthy book, which is the post-2015 process. Continue reading “Discussion of the High Level Panel’s Report on the Post 2015 Agenda”
By May 10th 2013, the MY World survey had mobilized nearly 530,000 participants in 194 countries to vote for their most important priorities. Over half of these votes have been collected offline, using paper and pen. Just over one third have come through the MY World website, and around eight per cent have come through mobile phone surveys.
The data that the survey is generating yields important information not only on global priorities, but also how these differ by characteristics: by gender, age, education level, and location. This paper provides information on the current findings at a global and sub-global level, and some suggestions for the implications for policy post-2015.
By March 21st 2013, the MY World survey had mobilized over 150,000 participants in 190 countries to vote for their most important priorities. The data that the survey is generating yields important information not only on global priorities, but also how these differ by characteristics: by gender, age, education level, and location. This paper provides information on the current findings at a global and sub-global level, and some information on the partnerships that have made MY World possible.
Sometimes a simple action can capture a moment of change, can sum up all the words, charts and PowerPoint slides that we churn out from day to day.
All the hopes and aspirations we place into the idea of empowerment and equality.
This particular action was in a village in the state of Uttar Pradesh in Northern Indian and it involved no more or less than a “charpoy”, a traditional sitting bench, and a young woman called Devika.
A scene that many of you working in development will recognize: The team of development workers arrives in the village and the charpoy is bought out and the visitors and men of the village sit to talk. Around them gathers the village—lanky teenage boys staring, sinewy old men dressed in white cotton leaning on sticks, small grubby children dressed in oversized party dresses falling off their shoulders and old toothless women crouching on the floor. So we talked, of polio and nutrition, of births and water pumps—and then we asked about “school and girls.” Much nodding of heads and shouting. Then, through the crowd came a slender girl, pristine, wearing a powder blue shalwar kameez. She sat on the “charpoy.” She didn’t stand or crouch, she took her place with the elders and talked, telling us about her girls club and the work they did for children with polio. “And your mother,” we asked. She pointed to an old toothless woman squatting on the floor.
This moment when Devika literally took her place at the table—despite her youth and her gender—is one we should strive to repeat in everything we do. Empower young people, and particularly young women, to speak up and contribute to the larger discussion. Let’s ensure that the millions of Devikas know that they have a place at the table and have their say.
Your results will be submitted to the Secretary General´s High Level Panel for Post-2015 and will feed into their final report and recommendations for a new development framework in May 2013.
