7th and 8th Sessions of the Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations
(Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Outcome Document)

On Thursday morning, delegates observed a minute of silence in honor of Roble Olhaye, Permanent Representative of Djibouti to the UN and dean of the diplomatic corps, who had passed away on Wednesday.

Co-Facilitator Macharia Kamau (Kenya) introduced the day’s discussion on the means of implementation (MOI) chapter and invited Member States to discuss the relationship of the post-2015 development agenda with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on financing for development. He cautioned that next week will see the finalization of the post-2015 development agenda, and advised careful management of expectations as no new goals, targets or other fundamental changes will be introduced.

Regional groupings and Member States discussed whether the AAAA should be attached in an annex or otherwise reflected in the outcome document. As India quipped on Thursday afternoon, “to annex or not to annex, that is the question.” The Group of 77 and China said that while the AAAA complements the post-2015 development agenda, it cannot replace its MOI. The EU favored including the AAAA as an annex, saying it is an integral part of the post-2015 development agenda. Member States also differed as to whether to “fully endorse” the AAAA, or merely “welcome” it.

Co-Facilitator Kamau noted the lack of precedent in attaching the complete outcome of one conference to another conference outcome, and Mexico observed that the UN General Assembly will adopt the AAAA as a stand-alone outcome document. Kamau said the Co-Facilitators will seek legal advice on this matter.

Delegates also considered the placement of the MOI targets and whether to duplicate them within the draft outcome document in both chapters 2 and 3. Some noted that, while it made sense to reflect the relevant MOI targets under specific goals in chapter 2, grouping them in chapter 3 on MOI would give them greater prominence.