Post-2015 development agenda: Bangladesh proposal to UN - I

Shamsul Alam Since 2000 Millennium Development Goals generally known by their acronym MDGs have served as global framework for development. They indeed guided the efforts of the international community, particularly in the developing countries, to intensify the fight against disenabling factors, which stood in the way of realising and harnessing the full human potential. During these years, progress has been achieved in many of the targets identified under the MDGs, while other areas deserve further attention. However, a brief review of the progress of MDGs reveals some interesting weaknesses. Firstly, MDGs, having been a top-down process, followed a sectoral approach where issues were treated in a fragmented manner practically in silos. As a result, MDGs in some cases only addressed the symptoms instead of the root causes of the problem. Second, narrow indicators were used to identify progress toward the target and goals, which overlooked the consequences which may have generated out of the progress. One such area is the fight against poverty. While some progress has been achieved in this area, inequality has grown noticeably dividing most of the societies and in the process raising more questions than answered. Third, lack of focus on human rights and human development also weakened the framework; it prioritised statistical figures more than the issue of human progress. Fourth, the issue of mutual accountability along with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities was practically absent from the MDG framework. In addition, some members of the international community took a lacklustre view of their role in the process and failed to respect their initial commitment under the MDG framework. Perhaps that explains why in the end the struggle for achieving MDGs has been mostly driven and led by the developing nations themselves through their own national means and resources without practically any tangible support from their partners. As we are approaching the target year for the expiry of the MDGs, some degree of consensus is however emerging to continue the ongoing work for completing the unfinished agenda of MDGs and to articulate a new set of goals in the post 2015 period. Based on the experience of MDGs the emerging expectation is that the new goals should keep the people at the centre of development and build a development framework which is right based, peace centric, inclusive and equitable. Guidance from Rio+ 20 Conference: Against this backdrop, UN Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly known as Rio + 20 Conference, which took place in Brazil in June 2012, rearticulated the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely social, economic and environmental dimensions. The outcome document of Rio+20 entitled, "The future we want for all" also recognised that the development of goals could also be useful for pursuing focused and coherent actions on sustainable development. It also acknowledged the importance and utility of a set of goals for Post 2015 Development Agenda (P2015DA). It recommended that these goals should be coherent with and integrated into the UN development agenda beyond 2015. The conference also underscored that the Post-2015 Development Agenda should be action-oriented, concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally acceptable to all countries, while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. United Nations in action: Based on this guidance, the United Nations embarked on a process of conducting a series of global consultations in 2012 with a view to identifying new global priorities and ensuring that all stakeholders are included in this process of consultation to make the process inclusive and transparent. Accordingly, the UN Secretary General set up a High Level Panel (HLP) to coordinate the process and to provide its own recommendations on P2015DA. At the same time, UN member states, UN system and other stakeholders, including the civil society and global networks have been requested to send their ideas, inputs and recommendations to the UN by June 2013. The UN General Assembly will discuss this matter in September 2013. Wide consultations held: In Bangladesh, several set of actors have become involved in the process of consultation, including the government. The first round of consultation took place in Dhaka on 10 November 2012. The outcome document was shared in a ministerial level briefing session held on 21 January 2013 with the participation of concerned ministers, senior officials of ministries, agencies and development partners and Planning Commission. As per the decision of this Ministerial briefing session, the General Economics Division (GED), Planning Commission was vested responsibility to prepare the framework along with Goals and Targets of Post 2015 Development Agenda supported by several indicators. The core committee chaired by Member, GED, Planning Commission initiated rounds of consultation among the multiple stakeholders. The sub-national level consultations were conducted throughout the country. Senior officials from the GED, government representatives at that level, members of civil society and media representatives, among others, attended those consultations and came up with useful recommendations. Then the Core Committee for Preparation of the Draft organised a preliminary outline identifying set of goals, targets and indicators and the final outcome has been prepared by the GED, Planning Commission. The UN system in Dhaka under the leadership of UNDP has assisted the government in this process. Various representatives and experts from the UN system provided useful insights and inputs for inclusion in the draft. Inputs and suggestions received from different ministries have been suitably integrated into the draft. The draft was reviewed by an inter-Ministerial High Level Official meeting held on May 05, 2013. The revised draft was again reviewed by the Core Committee and a group of experts from the specialised organisations of the UN stationed in Dhaka. The draft was shared with the Development Partners on May 19, 2013 and they offered a good number of suggestions. The final consultation was held nationally at the Rupashi Bangla on June 02, 2013. Inaugurated by the Prime Minister and attended by the Planning, Finance and the Foreign Ministers, Advisors, Secretaries and Civil Society representatives among others, it reviewed and scrutinised the proposed goals and targets in light of the national priorities of Bangladesh and keeping the larger global perspective in mind. The national document of Bangladesh contains 11 goals, 56 targets and 241 indicators. Organising principles: A few organising principles have been kept in mind during the preparation of the draft on Post-2015 Development Agenda. First, goals have been kept limited in number, so that they could be measured against targets and indicators. Second, goals and targets have been articulated in such a way so that they could act as a bridge between the unfinished agenda of MDGs and the potential Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as suggested in Rio+20 conference. Third, the proposed framework would be based on the principles of inclusiveness, sustainability, equity, rule of law, human rights, governance, justice, opportunity and participation of all stakeholders. Fourth, P2015DA have been proposed to address the new challenges, which may define the world during the next 15 years. Fifth, the issues of accountability and transparency, both domestically and globally, have also been incorporated. Sixth, our national priorities as articulated in various vision documents, including Vision 2021, Sixth Five Year Plan, and Perspective Plan, Progress Report on MDGs have been taken as guide for identifying goals and targets. Then they have been aligned with the global aspirations and priorities particularly of LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS as much they are appropriate. Simple and measurable indicators corresponding to each target of the goals have been suggested to help periodic monitoring of progresses attained by targets of the goals set. Rationale for Post-2015 Development Agenda (P2015DA): Bangladesh has been able to substantially reduce poverty and on way to meeting the goal on halving the poverty by half by the year 2015. However, a few related issues have clouded this prospect, which demand urgent attention. They include: growing income disparity which alienates a large segment of population, including women, minorities, ethnic groups and disadvantaged segments of population, persistent under nourishment of mother and children which is having inter-generational negative consequences and the non-availability of safe and pure food that has emerged as a new challenge to achieving sustainable economic progress. Nonetheless, Bangladesh has performed very well with regard to achieving gender parity at primary level in schools, notwithstanding the fact that the dropout rate remains high, the learning outcome is yet modest and transition rate to secondary level has remained below expectation. Skills acquired through education also remain weak and well below the market demand. At one level, Bangladesh has made commendable progress in women empowerment, but at another level more work needs to be done to achieve equality in capacity for appropriately utilizing the unfolding economic and social opportunities. Significant progress has also been achieved in the health sector, although we are still long way off to ensure the basic health rights for all our citizens. In this context, more public investment and outreach of services call for immediate attention as they constitute the basic ingredients of human capital formation in any country. Our experience has also shown that governance plays a key role, both in domestic and global levels, in successfully implementing the development goals. Respect for human, social, economic and political rights are prerequisites for creating a level playing field for different segments of people so that they could harness their full human potential. One of the lacunas noted in the MDGs was the lack of any governance issues or institutions to back up the process of development toward sustainability. Likewise, environmental issues deserve much more attention as we move forward. Being a climatically vulnerable nation itself, Bangladesh has been at the forefront in mobilizing the national strength and resources as well as garnering support from the international community for encouraging the stakeholders to perform their responsibilities in light of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. While Bangladesh shares the view that the mobilization of internal resources plays an important role in addressing the emerging challenges, it strongly believes that building a solid partnership through galvanising support from the developed countries holds the key to the successful implementation of any Post 2015 Development Agenda. It is agreed that post-2015 Development Agenda has to be a transformative agenda, which would essentially be people-centred, peace centric and right based, inclusive, participatory and accountable in nature, planet caring, and generate a shared and sustainable prosperity for all. While identifying the Post-2015 Development Agenda, it was thought prudent to keep the achievements of Bangladesh in the forefront. It is possible that these experiences could not only make a compelling case of demonstrable success, but also present a model to be replicated around the world as a part of Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda. Post-2015 era goals and targets: The draft has been organised under broad 11 Goals. The first goal entitled 'Unleash human potentials for sustainable development' focuses on the people as the central element in the development process, and touches on harnessing the potential of all segments of population. Targets practically cover the interests of all segments of population. Under the goals entitled 'Eradicate poverty and reduce inequality' ambitious targets have been proposed to completely eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 and accelerate pro-poor growth for reducing inequality. On the goal entitled 'Ensure sustainable food security and nutrition for all' special attention has been given to develop targets for ensuring nutrition of pregnant women, ensuring safe food, diversify food supply and promote dietary diversity. Under the goal entitled 'Universal access to health and family planning services', targets include ensuring basic health services and reproductive health rights along with efforts to control and if possible eliminate non-communicable diseases and climate induced diseases and development disorders. Under the goal of 'Achieve gender equality' elimination of violence against girls and women, child labour and ensuring role of women in decision making process have been included as targets. On 'Ensure quality education and skills for all', in addition to attaching importance to achieving 100 per cent enrolment target in primary education, mainstreaming of TVET, skills training has been suggested along with lifelong education to make the young population ready for the increasingly competitive complex job market. The goal on 'Increase employment opportunities and ensure worker rights' talks about creating opportunities for decent employment, including in the informal sector, legal framework on worker rights, equal wages for men and women, and migration as a part of development dynamics. On the goal relating to 'Ensure good governance', issues ranging from global governance to local governance have been included as targets along with strengthening the accountability and transparency institutions, empowering people through effective implementation of right to information (RTI) regimes and removing barriers to market access. On 'Promote sustainable production and consumption' goal, sustainable use of resources for production and consumption pattern has been proposed along with measures to ensure further efficiency On the goal entitled 'Ensure environmental sustainability and disaster management' suggestion has been made to integrate DRR and climate change adaptation into the core component of sustainable development, and increase the resilience of communities, and encouraging regional and global cooperation for disaster forecasting and managing post disaster situation. On the environment side, a comprehensive perspective linked to use of land, water, agriculture, forest, urbanisation and energy has been suggested. For 'Strengthen international cooperation and partnership for Sustainable Development', issues of resources sharing, fulfilling of ODA commitment and creating new opportunities for promoting collaboration among government, trade facilitation, participation of private sector, civil society and philanthropic entities has been included as targets. Political commitment: The Core Committee and the GED gratefully acknowledge the guidance and blessings received from the Prime Minister to the efforts on the proposed Post-2015 Development Agenda. Her guidance and specific inputs received from national consultations on the goals and targets greatly helped to give a final shape to this national document. The GED formally forwarded it to the Foreign Ministry to forward it to United Nations through the formal diplomatic channel for their consideration. (Part - II will appear tomorrow) Prof. Shamsul Alam currently is Member, General Economics Division, Planning Commission, Government of Bangladesh.