New Global Sustainable Development Goals demand bold implementation commitments by Governments
Beyond 2015 press release: 6 August 2015
Beyond 2015 welcomes the agreement reached at the United Nations on the post-2015 development agenda and calls upon governments to make concrete commitments to reach the goals at the September Summit in New York.
Brussels (and globally), August 5 – Beyond 2015 welcomes the consensus reached at the United Nations (UN) on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and urges world leaders to announce concrete commitments towards full implementation when they formally adopt the sustainable development goals (SDGs) during the UN Summit in September. The new agenda replaces the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and represents the culmination of a lengthy process of public consultations, civil society and stakeholder’s engagement, and intergovernmental negotiations spanning almost three years.
“We have always known that the perfect is impossible, but the work of Beyond 2015 and our participating organisations has ensured that this outcome is truly ambitious and progressive, including a set of far-reaching sustainable development goals and clear commitments towards the inclusion of people in its implementation and accountability”, said Andrew Griffiths, Co-Chair of Beyond 2015.
Beyond 2015, a global campaign bringing together almost 1,500 civil society organisations from the Global North and South, across all sectors of development, has been a key actor in the post-2015 process since the very start, advocating an ambitious successor framework to the MDGs that leaves no-one behind.
“Our Campaign focused on pushing governments to reach an ambitious agreement and we are proud of the work that has been done by our participating organizations at local, national, regional and global levels which allowed for a historic and potentially transformative consensus at the United Nations”, affirmed Leo Williams, International Coordinator of the Campaign.
The Campaign strongly welcomes the new approach that the 17 universal, indivisible and interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) take to ending poverty and “leaving no-one behind”. The new goals are inclusive and comprehensive and will require the “participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people”.
“Meaningful participation of people and their organisations in crafting, implementing and monitoring the SDGs at all levels has been a key rallying call of the Campaign and we are very pleased to see increased opportunities for civil society and other stakeholders to do so reflected in the intergovernmental agreement. We will continue to be engaged to make this Agenda a reality” said Naiara Costa, Beyond 2015 Advocacy Director, based in New York.
Now that this transformative agenda has been agreed it is time for all governments to match the ambition of the text by committing to incorporate the post-2015 agenda into national sustainable development plans, and ensuring adequate institutional, human and financial capacity to achieve the goals. All governments and stakeholders have a responsibility to start implementing the new agenda as soon as possible.
Philipp Schönrock, Co-Chair of Beyond 2015 said: “We expect our Heads of State and Government to come to the UN Summit in September with concrete and urgent commitments to start making this agenda a reality. The implementation of the Millennium Development Goals was delayed for a few years and we must learn this lesson with the SDGs. We have the political will brought by the consensus agreement, and we have the engagement of civil society and other stakeholders. It is time to start the path towards 2030”
Contact: Ella Masle-Farquhar, Beyond 2015 International Officer, [email protected], +32 (0)470133379