The United Nations General Assembly opened its annual session on 17 September 2013 with its new President call for the need to lay the groundwork for global sustainable development in the years following the end of the current development cycle in 2015. The year 2015 is the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight anti-poverty targets agreed by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, setting specific goals on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a global partnership for development. To this end Mr. Ashe, a national of Antigua and Barbuda, has declared “The Post 2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage” the theme for the 68th General Assembly, a theme underscored by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “We will intensify our efforts to define a post-2015 development agenda, including with a single set of goals for sustainable development that we hope will address the complex challenges of this new era and capture the imagination of the people of the world, as the MDGs did,” Mr. Ban told the 193-member body, adding that attention would also be focused on speeding achievement of the MDG in the 1,000 days to the deadline... In pursuit of a far-sighted post-2015 development agenda, Mr. Ashe said he planned to convene three high-level events and three thematic debates, ranging from role of women, youth and civil society and the contributions of human rights and the rule of law to innovative South-South partnerships and collaboration among developing nations. Other items in the Assembly’s docket for the coming year include migration, nuclear disarmament, the MDGs and disabilities as well as a High-Level thematic debate, mandated by the Assembly, on investment in Africa and its role in achieving development objectives. Mr. Ban also stressed: “Syria is without doubt the biggest crisis facing the international community... The Assembly has a role and a voice in our efforts to resolve it and respond to the suffering." Full article: gnrd.net/vnews.php?id=256 Follow GNRD on Twitter: https://twitter/GNRD_NGO Subscribe for GNRD Newsletter: https://facebook/gnrdnet/app_100265896690345
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 10:14:11 +0000