Today, on Nelson Mandela Day, I joined our interns Grace, Marissa, Anna and Brendan at a consultation on The World We Want Platform. “The World We Want is a platform created by the United Nations and Civil Society to amplify people’s voices in the process of building a global agenda for sustainable development.”
The dialogue included a distinctive panel:
- Joseph Donnelly, Caritas Internationalis
- Geri Benoit, Haitian diplomat, social scientist, community Orgnaizer
- Cristina Diez. ATD 4th World
- Nelson Muffuh, Post 2015 Development Team/One Secretariat
- Azza Karam, UNFPA
The panel and participants richly dialogued and we look forward to future conversations on the post-2015 development agenda. To participate in the World We Want Consultations, including a faith-based consultation, click here.
Below are some highlights from Grace, Marissa, Anna and Brendan:
Grace Bickers: To hear so many in the room speak, especially so passionately, about truly involving people living in poverty into the development of a post-2015 agenda is heartening. Only so much can be done in a 2-hour panel, but the focus on action-oriented dialogue—as long as it’s actually carried out—is encouraging.
Marissa Costello: There is no one person who can represent the face of poverty. Every group has their own personal struggle and to help that population more is by not bunching that group into one category. One must not assume that one position held does not speak for the entire community. We must stop generalizing.
Anna Folz: I think education is something that is very important. As people we can not grow without knowledge. We can not better the world without knowledge. Education and the voices between one another are the ways to success.
Brendan Welsh: As civil society is a diverse group of organizations, it cannot have a single representative to an international body such as the UN. Furthermore, the only way that civil society groups can ever affect change in the world is through negotiating, listening to one another, and partnering together.