Thirteenth session of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The UN General Assembly's Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concluded its 13th and final session at UN Headquarters in New York on Saturday, 19 July 2014. The OWG adopted its outcome by acclamation, and the proposal will be submitted to the UN General Assembly for consideration and appropriate action at its 68th session.

On Friday morning, delegates began the day with a discussion of Goal 16 (Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels), following a late Thursday night contact group meeting. After a lengthy discussion, the contact group was asked to continue working on this goal, but they could not achieve consensus.

The OWG then undertook a third reading of the proposed SDGs and their targets from Goal 1 through Goal 17, as well as the Chapeau, in a session lasting from 12:00 noon Friday until 3:45 am on Saturday. The meeting was then suspended for the Co-Chairs and Secretariat to revise and edit the document so it could be presented for adoption by the Group.

At 10:30 am on Saturday, OWG-13 resumed in formal session to adopt the proposal. Numerous delegations took the floor to praise the Co-Chairs, expressing satisfaction or reservations with various parts of the document. At 1:20 pm, the OWG adopted the proposal by acclamation with a standing ovation for Co-Chairs Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, and Csaba Kőrösi, Permanent Representative of Hungary.

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