by Brendan Welsh
Today, the High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda met to discuss their report, and answer questions from representatives of various countries, NGOs, and various government agencies. Michael Anderson, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on the UN Development Goals began by introducing the five Transformative Shifts laid out in the report:
1. Leave no one behind
2. Sustainable Development at the Core
3. Transform Economies for Jobs and Inclusive Growth
4. Build Peace and Effective, Open, and Accountable Public Institutions
5. Forge a New Global Partnership
Anderson added that the report, “isn’t a set of legally-binding regulations; it’s a report to inspire people,” admitting that “more work needs to be done on the aging demographic, which is not included in this report.”
Samuel Jackson, Minister of State for Economic and Financial Affairs in Monrovia, said, “Focusing on the GDP of Africa is not enough; we need to build sustainable systems. Furthermore, we can’t just eradicate extreme poverty, we need to build a middle class.” Mwangi Waituru, co-Chair at Beyond 2015, and member of the GCAP Kenya/Seed Institute, said, “If the governance of resources is fixed, everything will fall in place,” and, as one of only a few people who were critical of the report, Waituru added, “the issue of economic growth could have been treated better in the report, because unfortunately it reinforces the current status-quo; that economic growth is about profit making, not care for humanity.”
You can find information about the report in the press release or The High-level Panel report itself. Click here for more information about the High-Level Panel.