On 2 April, UNA-UK Executive Director Natalie Samarasinghe and Research Officer Mrinalini Singh attended a meeting on the post-2015 successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The event, which had a focus on health and governance targets was organised by the Royal Danish Embassy in London, for the government representatives of Scandinavian countries. It featured presentations from Natalie Samarasinghe, Gillian Mann of the Department for International Development, and Marta Foresti of the Overseas Development Institute.
In her speech, Ms Samarasinghe outlined the uneven progress on MDGs across regions, and addressed some challenges confronting the achievement of HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality reduction targets. She emphasised on the need to accelerate progress in these areas and referred to warnings about risking gains achieved till date.
Ms Mann provided an overview of the report of the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, released in May 2013 (HLP Report). She outlined how the HLP Report was reflective of the UK’s priorities on the post-2015 process and referred to the importance of financing health targets. Ms Foresti discussed the relevance of the illustrative goal on ‘good governance and effective institutions’, in the HLP Report. She highlighted how health targets are not achieved on the basis of health policies alone, but are also influenced by the quality of governance and accountability targets.
The presentations were followed by a question and answer session where questions ranged from the likelihood of consensus amongst nations on governance targets, to achieving development objectives even amidst corruption.
Click here to read Natalie Samarasinghe's speech
Photo: Post-2015 Development Agenda meeting in Liberia, November 2012. UN Photo/Staton Winter
