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On Monday morning, 25 November 2013, OWG Co-Chair Macharia Kamau (Kenya) opened the Fifth Session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals by presenting, together with Co-Chair Csaba Korosi (Hungary), on the progress of the OWG’s first four sessions, activities during the five-month interim period, and the business ahead. They identified the following areas as part of the emerging consensus among Member States: the centrality of poverty eradication; the goals must be few, measurable and easy to communicate; the new agenda must build on and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); new goals must be inclusive and “leave no one behind”; and the agenda must be universal and apply to all countries, while recognizing different priorities and levels of development. They said broad support exists for goals or targets on: poverty; food security; water and sanitation; health; education; employment; and universal attainment of a social development threshold.
The discussion of the OWG-5 agenda item on sustained and inclusive economic growth, macroeconomic policy questions (including international trade, international financial system and external debt sustainability), infrastructure development and industrialization began with two keynote statements. Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University, stressed that achieving inclusive and sustainable growth means moving away from the MDGs’ approach of having single targets for all countries, and conflating instruments with goals, since the effectiveness of instruments is not always established. Li Yong, Director-General, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), highlighted that no country in history has achieved economic growth and tackled poverty without significant industrialization. Approximately fifteen speakers then took the floor on behalf of country coalitions and OWG constituencies, to discuss their preferred approach to the topics. Nineteen additional speakers will take up this topic on Tuesday morning.
During the afternoon, Mukhisa Kituyi, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), stressed that, while the MDGs equated development with specific social deprivations, the SDGs are development goals that should focus attention on building livelihoods and productive capacity. Amadou Sy, Brookings Institution, highlighted the need to reallocate global investments towards sustainable development, which encompasses, inter alia, strengthening South-South partnerships and using aid as a catalyst for private investment flows. Amar Bhattacharya, Director, G-24, emphasized the need for, among others, improved tax performance and international cooperation to tackle tax avoidance by companies and infrastructure investments. Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University, highlighted discussions in the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which resulted in recommendations to focus the SDGs on: ending extreme poverty; jobs and continued economic development within planetary boundaries; social inclusion; education for all; universal health coverage; food security and sustainable agriculture; climate change and sustainable energy; conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, including freshwater sources; resilient and sustainable cities; and good governance.
Discussion will continue on Tuesday morning, 26 November, on this agenda item. The afternoon session will take up the agenda item on energy.
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