Asian Statement on the UN Secretary General Report on Post-2015

We, members and partners of the Asia Development Alliance (ADA) composed of national and sub-national development CSO/NGO platforms in Asia, participating in the 2nd Regional Consultation on Post-2015 development agenda, convened jointly with Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP)-Asia in Bangkok, Thailand on 25 August 2013,

Recognizing the importance of the Post 2015 Development Agenda as an opportunity and challenge to CSOs in Asia to empower people living in poverty and insecurity to claim their own rights,

Taking note of the outcome document of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Dialogue held in Bangkok on 26 and 27 August 2013, which is part of the engagement process between governments, civil society and other stake-holders in the UN development agenda beyond 2015,

Welcoming the report of the UN Secretary “A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015” (A/68/2015) submitted to the 68th session of the UN General Assembly,

Recalling the previous ADA statements on Post-2015 development agenda including ADA statement on Post-2015 Development Agenda (Bangkok, 2 Feb. 2013), ADA response to the Communiqué of the 4th HLP (Bali, 21 April 2013) and statement on the UN HLP Final Report (12 June, 2013),

Reaffirming fundamental values of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for the planet and shared responsibility as enshrined in the UN Millennium Declaration,

Recognizing the importance of international agreed principles and their implementation such as the 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development, 1992 Rio Principles, 1995 Copenhagen Declaration and Program of Action and 2000 UN Millennium Declaration,

Recognizing the importance of inclusive and equitable partnerships for sustainable development among civil society, government including parliament, and private sector in line with internationally recognized principles such as the Busan Global Partnership for Effective Development Partnership (GPEDC) and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,

Reaffirming the Istanbul Principles and Seam Reap Consensus for CSO Development Effectiveness as recognized in the Article 22 of the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation in 2011,

Reaffirming the vital role of CSOs which includes ‘enabling people to claim their rights, promoting human rights-based approaches, sharing development policies and partnerships and overseeing their implementation and providing service delivery’ as articulated in the in the Article 22 of the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation,

Welcoming the inclusion in the report of UN Secretary General of exclusion and inequality, climate change, migration and democratic challenges, urbanization as well as the international development cooperation framework as stand-alone goals among 15 proposed goals for Post-2015 development agenda,

Supporting the proposal in the Report of ‘a single, balanced and comprehensive set of goals , universal to all nations’ as core of the Post-2015 development agenda which is ‘limited in number, measurable, easy to communicate and adaptable to both global and local settings’,

Welcoming the recognition in the Report that the new sustainable development goals should include the emphasis on human well-being and go beyond the usual economic measures like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income to include the use of new indicators such as surveys of well-being and happiness,

Welcoming the emphasis in the Report on the role of civil society and parliaments in monitoring and accountability mechanisms in MDGs and Post-2015 development agenda,

Welcoming the emphasis in the Report the importance of solid statistical system and capacity’ in monitoring the progress in the realization of MDGs and Post-2015 development agenda,

Mindful of the assessment of the achievement of MDGs in the Report that ‘progress has been insufficient and highly uneven despite significant progress in many countries and in some targets’,

1. Underscore the importance of addressing in the Post-2015 development agenda, in the context of prolonged global financial crisis, the root causes of structural poverty and increasing exclusion and inequality,

2. Emphasize the importance and urgency to transform current development paradigm and architecture from the current neoliberal framework to one that prioritizes human development, social protection and ecological sustainability over profits,

3. Stress the urgent need to reshape and revitalize global governance and partnerships, including the international financial institutions, to ensure the centrality and primacy of human rights, a more just, fairer and equitable global financial and trade architecture and framework, and the effectiveness of transparency and accountability mechanisms,

4. Stress the importance of upholding and implementing internationally recognized principles such as common but differentiated responsibilities, human rights-based approach to development, principle of free, prior and informed consent, principle of access to information, justice and public participation, and polluter pay principle,

5. Stress the urgent need for transition to low carbon economy while respecting bio-diversity and ecological limit and planetary boundary,

6. Stress the importance of comprehensive transfer of technology and environmentally sound technologies that respond to the needs and build capacities of developing countries and communities, more than just Information and Communication Technology (ICT),

7. Stress the need to respect and promote women’s rights and gender equality, equity and justice.

8. Stress the need to recognize corruption as a key barrier to transparent and accountable governance and to promote transparency and democratic governance,

9. Stress the importance of democratic ownership, transparency and multiple accountability for both providers and partners of development cooperation in Asia as emphasized in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation,

10. Reiterate the positions and demands made in the previous ADA statements which were not adequately addressed in the Report,
a) Urgent need for innovate financing and to establish and strengthen national and international mechanisms to regulate transnational corporations and speculative financial capital including Financial Transaction Tax (FTT),
b) Importance of disarmament and demilitarization to build sustainable peace and also to use the sizable military spending for poverty eradication and financing for development,
c) Importance of universal ratification of all international human rights treaties, in particular, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and its Optional Protocol as well as their full implementation at domestic level,
d) Importance of making full use of existing available monitoring and accountability human rights mechanisms, such as the UN special procedures, treaty bodies and Universal Periodic Review (UPR), and of effective CSO participation in all these,
e) Need to give priority to least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing countries as well as fragile and conflict-affected countries in Post-2015 development agenda,
f) Need to recognize historical and ecological debts in addressing foreign debts,

11. Urge Asian governments to take the following concrete actions proactively in order to make the Post-2015 process more inclusive and meaningful:
a) Advocate the positions and demands listed in the above at the 68th session of UN General Assembly in September 2013 and the UN General Assembly’s Open-ended Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG-SDGs),
b) Recognize and work with civil society as a legitimate and equal partner for policy-sharing, monitoring and evaluation in the Post-2015 process and beyond,
c) Hold regular policy consultation with civil society nationally and internationally to get people’s voices heard in the Post-2015 development process and beyond,
d) Facilitate Asian CSOs’ access and participation in the UN inter-governmental consultations such as the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG-SDGs) and other inter-governmental consultation and negotiation processes related to Post 2015,
e) Ensure and promote an enabling environment for civil society to implement the Istanbul Principles and Seam Reap Consensus for CSO Development Effectiveness,

12. Commit ourselves to make the Post-2015 process and outcome more meaningful and beneficial to billions of people living in poverty, injustice and insecurity for survival in Asia and other parts of the world.

Asia Development Alliance (ADA) Statement on the UN Secretary General Report on MDGs and Post-2015 Development Agenda (A/68/202), 2 September 2013.

Asia Development Alliance (ADA) is a regional forum of national and sub-national development NGO/CSO platforms in Asia to promote more effective communication, coordination and cooperation in the Post-2015 Development Agenda process. It was officially launched in Bangkok on 2 February 2013. ADA201322@gmail.com