6th Session of the Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations
(Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Outcome Document)

On Tuesday, 23 June 2015, the 6th Session of the Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations continued consideration of the zero draft of the outcome document. In the morning and beginning of the afternoon, delegates continued their discussion on the preamble and the declaration sections of the draft. During the rest of the afternoon and evening, they addressed the section on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.

On the preamble and declaration, there was emerging consensus that the declaration should be short and accessible and highlight the transformative nature of the agenda. Issues discussed included the need to reference the positive aspects of migration for sustainable development in both countries of origin and recipient countries, how to develop a common understanding of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), and whether people and states under foreign occupation should be mentioned.

In concluding the discussion on the declaration, Co-Facilitator Macharia Kamau (Kenya) stressed that the dynamic of the post-2015 process is different from that of other processes, such as the Financing for Development negotiations and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The post-2015 agenda is not a legally binding instrument, he explained, but a declaration that will state Member States’ intentions, and thus they are not “legally bound to every word and comma.” He underscored the need to keep a “light and crisp” mood and manage the process in a similar way as the Open Working Group on SDGs, without falling into a line-by-line drafting exercise.

In the discussion on the goals and targets, developing countries called for including the report of the OWG in its entirety in the text, including the chapeau and the reservations. They also warned against reopening the targets to technical “tweaking.” Developed countries asserted that: the Co-Facilitators’ introduction to the goals and targets is largely sufficient; there is no need to include the chapeau or reservations; and the technical tweaking of the targets is necessary because Heads of State cannot agree on unfinished text or endorse targets that are not aligned with international conventions and the Rio+20 outcome document.