At the initiative of the UN Millennium Campaign in Spain, on October 16, a Post-2015 Consultation with Spanish Civil Society took place in the Auditorium of the Instituto Cervantes Post-2015 Consultation with Civil Society Spanish. This consultation is part of the so-called post-2015 process or dialogue on the development agenda beyond the date set for the achievement of the MDGs by 2015. In Spain, this process coincides with the period of development of the Master Plan IV of Spanish Cooperation (2013-2016). The Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture (FPSC) and the Euro-Arab Development and Integration Organizations (READI) were invited to this consultation, represented by Carmen Seoane, of the projects department of the FPSC and Jumana Trad, president of READI.

The post-2015 process was formally launched at the United Nations in 2011 with the presentation of the Secretary General’s report “Accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.” The report called for the establishment of a consultative process that is inclusive, transparent and open to all stakeholders, particularly civil society.

To this end, the UN has established various mechanisms of reflection and participation, among which include:

  • A call for up to 100 national consultations and 11 thematic consultations between 2012 and 2013;
  • The creation of a High-level Panel co-chaired by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and Indonesian President SusiloBambangYudhoyono;
  • The appointment of a special adviser to the Secretary General for the United Nations Post-2015 Process;

The objective of this consultation is to start looking beyond 2015, integrating civil society organizations in the process of setting the post-2015 agenda.

 

The consensual message and demands resulting from the main event on the post-2015 agenda will be an advocacy tool that will be used:

  • At the United Nations.
  • At international civil society platforms as the international coalition of Beyond 2015 and the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

The UN Millennium Campaign in Spain convened four meetings of experts from various fields between July and September 2012 in order to define the keys and initial proposals of Spanish civil society in the context of post-2015 agenda..

These meetings have brought together experts from the following areas::

  • Meeting of Experts in the field of Youth. Leganés, July 13, 2012. In collaboration with the Youth Council of Spain.
  • Meeting of Experts in the field of Environment and Sustainability. Zaragoza, September 17th, 2012. In collaboration with the office of UN-Waterin Zaragoza.
  • Meeting of Experts in the field of decentralized cooperation. Barcelona, September 20. In collaboration with ART-UNDP and CIDOB.
  • Meeting of Experts of the field of Development and Human Rights. Madrid, September 28, 2012. In collaboration with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The consultation was developed in a session of two panels which were discussed on the Post-2015 agenda.

Panel I discussed the conclusions of these meetings of experts in the areas of Youth, Environment, Development and Human Rights and Decentralized Cooperation.Interesting questions were raised such as the desirability of involving youth in the design, monitoring and evaluation of development policies. Young people demand from governments a strong commitment to development that may even be subject to penalties and incentives based on their level of compliance. A human rights approach should be taken into consideration, especially the gender approach in development, but the agenda must be more transformative, seeking equality in the MDGs as well as equity. Environment and Sustainability should be framed within the global public goods (GPG) along with peace and security, conflict resolution, health, knowledge and culture, economic and financial stability to be addressed by coordinated work beyond the borders of countries. The provision of these goods will require a governance and quality management with new indicators by international institutions. The positive role of decentralized cooperation was also emphasized by the experts.

Panel II, consisting of representatives of the Government of Spain, the United Nations, Local Governments and InternationalCivil Society, held a dialogue with the audience. Of note is the interest generated by the intervention of the representative of the Secretariat of State for Cooperation in Latin America, who presented the broad outlines of future cooperation contained in the Master Plan IV of Spanish Cooperation (2013-2016), being discussed in these times. Attendees were concerned about the drastic budget cuts but also pleased to discover that the United Nations has included all actors and dynamic processes such as the Consultation. The overall tone was quite constructive.

The program coordinator of the UN development group for post-2015 dialogue stressed that next year the UN General Assembly will debate the new post-2015 targets. In May, the Secretary-General will receive the report resulting from this consultation process. At the same time an intergovernmental process in which 30 people will be selected to set the objectives of sustainable development to be reflected in a final report is due in 2014.

The Post-2015 Campaign of civil society is supported by the organization Beyond2015 of 400 institutions from 85 countries and as of 2010 has opened the reflection process under this Consultation. Its guiding principles are:

  • Achieve a multidisciplinary and cross-cutting agenda for 2015.
  • Achieving an agenda as a result of an open process involving the civil society and beneficiaries of development.

The importance of communicating and explaining what has been done and not just what needs to be done was stressed. Campaign representatives in Europe and Spain welcomed the participation and attendance at the event and made it clear that, ultimately, it is up to the States to lay down their policies. The report issued by the Consultation will be circulated before it reaches the UN body that must assess it.

There is a Post-2015 Consultations blog on the page www.sinexcusas2015.org where one can find information and materials related to the query and can convey their own impressions. There is also a report of the working group of the UN post-2015 which can be found in www.beyond2015.org.

This process gives the Spanish civil society a unique opportunity to help shape the post-2015 development agenda. Reflecting on the future we want is a key exercise as much as for organizations representing civil society as for other key groups to the entire population.