Eighth Session of the Open Working Group (OWG) of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

On 7 February 2014 – the final day of the final “stocktaking” meeting of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – delegates at UN Headquarters discussed their positions on “Conflict prevention, post-conflict peacebuilding and promotion of durable peace, rule of law and governance.”

At the conclusion of the day, OWG Co-Chair Kőrösi summarized the week’s discussions, based on the Co-Chairs’ summary bullet points for OWG-8 that were distributed. He highlighted: the role of oceans, seas, and forests as life-support systems; concerns about widening inequalities in the world; and the importance of peace, rule of law, and governance as enablers of poverty eradication and sustainable development. He noted that crafting the SDGs is an act of governance, and implementing it will depend on governance. He noted that transparency was identified as a key component of governance, and rule of law should focus on fair outcomes and not just fair processes. Kőrösi concluded his summary by encouraging delegates to “Keep talking – but more importantly, keep listening.”

Co-Chair Kamau highlighted the symbolism of meeting in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, stressing that the OWG was entrusted with the task to “carve out a future for our children and the young.” He told governments to set the bar high, in order to hand over a better world than we are all living in today. He closed the meeting at 6:09 pm.

Download our summary and analysis from this Session in HTML or PDF formats.