Lessons on Monitoring and Implementation of the MDGs for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

The launch of a report prepared within the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Europe and Central Asia and the United Nations Development Group for Europe and Central Asia, as part of their ongoing work on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda took placce on Thursday 26 February at the International Environment House, within the framework of the the Geneva Environment Network.

“Lessons on Monitoring and Implementation of the MDGs for the Post-2015 Development Agenda” is a United Nations report focusing on the transition from the MDGs to the future Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provides a brief overview of lessons that have been learned from implementing and monitoring progress towards achieving the MDGs in the developing and transition economies of Europe and Central Asia. These lessons are relevant to the design of a post-2015 development framework. The themes highlighted in the report are supported by the conclusions from ve case studies of national progress in MDG achievement from economies in this region.

The report is available in pdf format on UNECE website.

Agenda

Introductory video Message by Amina MOHAMMED, UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning

Panel discussion
Christian FRIIS BACH, UNECE Executive Secretary
Neil BUHNE, UNDP Office in Geneva Director
H.E. Miloš PRICA, Bosnia and Herzegovina Permanent Representative
Moderator: Jan DUSIK, Regional Director and Representative, UNEP

Presentations and discussion

UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning

UNECE

“We must learn from our successes, but also from our failures to perform better in the future. A key lesson from the MDGs is that we need more and better data to monitor the implementation of the SDGs. We need a true ‘data revolution’ with new sources of data and better integration of statistics into decision-making”, said Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

UNDP

“National experiences show that a country can – on average – be meeting an MDG, while still leaving behind pockets of many vulnerable people. These could be Roma, refugees, the internally displaced, people with disabilities, or others. We need to go beyond the ‘tyranny of averages’, and ensure that the SDGs can reflect the needs of the least fortunate”, said Neil Buhne, Director of the UNDP Office in Geneva.

UNEP

Throughout the entire Post-2015 and SDGs processes, UNEP has been working through the UN system to support the OWG on how to achieve a set of truly integrated Sustainable Development Goals. The first United Nations Environment Assembly, held in June, 2014, was an important part of this process, which afforded Ministers and stakeholders an opportunity to collectively review the emerging SDGs framework.

UNEP is continuing to articulate what the environmental dimension of sustainable development has to contribute to the agenda and emphasize the importance of the environmental contribution to a prosperous and healthy society.

Throught the UNEP Live portal, that we had the occasion to present here last year, UNEP has developed a Global Environment Goals tab providing a compilation of internationally agreed environmental goals and objectives drawn from existing international treaties and non-legally binding instruments. The compilation of GEGs is ongoing and the content continues to be refined and consolidated in a multi-stakeholder process. UNEP Live also provides and SDGs tab linking to the proposed sustainable development goals. These were put in place with the support of the Swiss Federal Office of the Environment.

Bosina and Herzegovina

The presentaiton of H.E. Miloš PRICA, can be downloaded below.

Agenda

Presentations and discussion

More information and documentation