1. Please list a limited number, preferably between five and ten, of the important priority areas that must be addressed through the SDGs to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development
sectoral issues : Water, Food Security, Energy, Poverty
cross-cutting issues : Climate Change, Green Growth, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, Education, Productive Capacity including Human Resources Development and Job Creation
2. How might the SDGs strive to balance the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development?
a. Reflect social, economic and environmental dimensions within each SDG, possibly through the associated targets
o(prefered)
b. Integrate the MDGs, suitably modified/updated for post-2015, into a larger sustainable development framework
o
c. Expand MDG7 (‘environmental sustainability’) into a number of goals with a natural/environmental resource dimension (water, food, energy, etc.)
d. Other (please describe)
3. Based on your experience with MDGs or other existing goals, what would be the key use of SDGs for your country (select at most two)?
Key use #1
e. Helping to balance economic, social and environmental pillars in policy making
Key use #2
f. Guiding development cooperation
If g. Other (please describe)
4. How can “universally applicable” SDGs be made practically relevant for countries at different levels of development? (Please refer to your country’s situation as appropriate.)
Universally desirable and applicable common goals could be defined with specific targets which are differentiated in accordance with each country’s development level.
5. The SDGs are supposed to be “global in nature”. Should targets associated with those goals be:
c. common but differentiated depending on country characteristics and level of development?
If c., please explain how:
By setting common goals with differentiated targets across relevant issues and areas while putting into consideration various categorizations and assessment including the World Bank statistics and the UNDP Human Development Index
6. Which existing goals and targets (e.g., MDGs, goals/targets in Agenda 21, JPOI) do you think should be incorporated - perhaps in updated form - in a proposal for sustainable development goals?
All existing goals and targets that reflect three pillars(economic, social and environmental) in a valid and balanced way should be considered to be incorporated into the SDGs. However, they should be streamlined in order to avoid duplication and reflect current international circumstances and priorities more accurately.
7. What specific steps can be taken to ensure that the SDGs are coherent with and integrated into the UN development agenda beyond 2015?
After the SG’s Post-2015 report and the SDGs Working Group’s report are submitted to the 68th General Assembly, the two tracks should be integrated into a unified intergovernmental process led by UN member states. Until then, close collaboration between them such as joint meetings, workshops and briefings to each other will be needed to narrow the possible gap between their works. In this sense, the leadership of the UN Secretary General and the role of the UN Secretariat would be critical.
8. How should assessments of progress toward the achievement of the SDGs be carried out at the global level?
As the outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development(Rio+20) reaffirmed that the ECOSOC is a principal body for the follow-up to the MDGs and for promoting the implementation of Agenda 21, the ECOSOC should also be the principal body for the follow-up to and the implementation of the SDGs.
The High Level Political Forum which will substitute the CSD should be conferred with a function to assess the implementation of the SDGs. However, the relations including division of labor between the High Level Political Forum and the ECOSOC should be clarified in order to overcome ineffectiveness occurred by duplication of their works.
It would be required to set up proper indicators for sub-categories which could be jointly developed by the UNDP, UNDG and UNEP.
A review process such as publications of a ‘Global Sustainability Outlook’ could be carried out every three years or more.
9. What measures should be taken to make the process of developing a proposal for SDGs inclusive and participatory? How should civil society and other relevant stakeholders be engaged?
By guaranteeing the participation and the right to submit opinions of the non-W/G-member-states in W/G meetings so that the W/G Process could be operated for all member countries to be able to participate in.
By engaging existing entities such as the CSD major groups, UN Global Compact and also by forming working groups composed of civil representatives elected from various areas.
It would be useful to hold multistakeholders’ special briefings where various stakeholders like civil societies and scientists could participate in the discussions related to their respective working areas.
10. What principles should underpin the development of the SDGs? (the UN TT report, for example, recommended adding (i) reducing inequalities and (ii) promoting human rights (iii) ensuring sustainability);
For the SDGs : Universality, Sustainability, Equality or Equity, Human Rights, Democracy, Accountability
For the development of the SDGs : Transparency, Comprehensiveness, Inclusiveness etc.
11. How should a new Global Partnership for Development be constructed within or around the SDGs?
It is necessary to form a new global partnership where a wide range of development actors participate. It would be useful to utilize existing partnership mechanisms such as Busan Global Partnership rather than to establish a totally new one.
The new partnership should serve to facilitate mobilization of resources and establish an effective implementation mechanism.
12. Do you have any other observations, ideas or inputs you would like to offer to inform the initial work of the open working group on sustainable development goals?
none
Submitted by: MOFAT