Discussion on MDGs

Civil Society Gathers to Discuss MDGs

In the run-up to September’s summit on the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations has, for the first time, opened its summit process to civil society and the private sector.

As a groundbreaking development, the U.N. General Assembly organized informal and interactive hearings June 14-15 with nonprofit and industry representatives.

The event forms part of the U.N.’s effort to seek perspectives from various stakeholders to enable them to contribute their input to the preparatory process for the New York summit slated for Sept. 20-22.

The U.N. Foundation, in collaboration with Devex, is also soliciting feedback from development professionals on the ground on their work toward the Millennium Development Goals.

As the race to meet the MDGs accelerates, opportunities for civil society and the private sector to influence international development decisions appear to be on the rise as donors boost cross-sector partnership, seek private-sector matching funds and pursue strategies driven by recipient-country stakeholders.

The European Union, for instance, this year launched a Structured Dialogue on the involvement of civil society and local authorities in European development cooperation. In a recent agreement, the EU and United States pledged to increase civil society’s involvement in the drafting of their country-specific development plans. Other governments and organizations are following suit – or, are way ahead on this issue.

Of course, the ability to advise falls short of the decision-making powers some non-governmental stakeholders have long been hoping for. But it may be a step in that direction.
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