Beyond 2015 reaction to the announcement of the High-Level Panel on Post-2015

Beyond 2015 welcomes the announcement of the High-Level Panel on Post-2015, but raises questions about how it will contribute to a strong and legitimate successor to the MDGs that reflects the priorities and perspectives of people living in poverty.

The Beyond 2015 Executive Committee said:

“We were pleased to see that Graça Machel, who was nominated by the Beyond 2015 campaign to represent civil society, has been appointed to the panel. It is welcome that there are at least two panel members with a strong civil society background and we look forward to working with them and with all the other panel members. However with government making up around two-thirds of this large panel, there are some concerns that civil society has been offered a polite nod rather than a genuine partnership.

A large number of panelists have expertise in international aid. The panel is officially tasked with advising on a bold and practical agenda with shared responsibilities for all countries, but the temptation to stick in an aid mindset will be strong. We urge the panel to ensure that inequalities, human rights, sustainable development and responsible private sector engagement are at their core of their thinking, and that the role of policy coherence is fully explored. Recognising new development challenges will not get us very far if we don’t also grasp new tools to address them.

A particular disappointment was the failure to explicitly acknowledge the role of people living in poverty who are critical stakeholders in this debate. Whilst considering the outcomes of consultations is mentioned, ‘local communities’ come last on the list of those to engage in dialogue. With each and every academic on the panel drawn from the single discipline of economics, we must ask whether the panel will recognise the credibility of evidence produced with poor communities on the full reality of their lives on the ground.

Regardless of these challenges, Beyond 2015 stands ready to work with the High Level Panel on this important and complex debate. The opportunity to carve out such a wide-ranging agenda comes but once in a generation, and will affect the lives of generations to come. We urge the panel members to seize the challenges ahead of them, and to draw not only on their own strengths but the strengths of all those striving for a just, equitable and sustainable world.”
Notes to editors:

1. The Beyond 2015 campaign (www.beyond2015.org) brings together 379 civil society organisations from 80 countries around the world. The Beyond 2015 Executive Committee is made up of 6 representatives from civil society in the global South, and six from the global North.
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Bernadette Fischler
Beyond 2015 International Coordinator (25 June – 16 Sept 2012)
Email: twww@beyond2015.org or beyond2015@cafod.org.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7733 7900 │ Direct: +44 (0)20 7095 5436 │ Skype: baernadette
http://www.beyond2015.org

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