THE FOREIGN SECRETARY INAUGURATES REGIONAL CONSULTATIONS WITH NON-GOVERNMENTAL ACTORS ON THE POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

• "Creating the Future We Want in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Post-2015 Development Agenda" seeks to give a voice to nongovernmental actors in the process of drafting the new international development agenda.

• Their recommendations will serve as a reference for the governments of the region during the negotiations.

• Former Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa and the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and UNDP Associate Administrator, Rebeca Grynspan, participated in the first consultations on the post-2015 development agenda for journalists.

• Follow the discussions at: http://participacionsocial.sre.gob.mx/post2015.php

A conference on Creating the Future We Want in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Post-2015 Development Agenda was inaugurated today in the Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara, Jalisco. These consultations with regional non-governmental actors are being held so that the principle stakeholders can participate in developing the new international development agenda. The governments of the region were invited to participate as observers.

Speaking at the inauguration were Foreign Secretary José Antonio Meade; Jorge Aristoteles Sandoval, governor of the state of Jalisco; Mirna Cunningham, member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; and Alina Bracamontes, representative of Axios/Misión Mujer.

In his speech, Foreign Secretary Meade emphasized the Mexican government’s commitment to an inclusive and open dialogue with civil society at the start of one of the most important multilateral processes that will impact the future of mankind: the development the Post-2015 International Development Agenda. He also mentioned some of the items that Mexico believes can serve as a guide for the discussions in Guadalajara.

Dr. Mirna Cunningham thanked the Mexican government for the openness it has shown towards indigenous peoples in various multilateral forums and with these discussions of the post-2015 development agenda. She also mentioned the issues still pending of the Millennium Development Goals and other priorities that should be given impetus, from the perspective of the indigenous peoples.

Ms. Bracamontes, a civil society representative from Jalisco, gave a presentation a new and ambitious development agenda from the perspective of the region’s youths.

Governor Sandoval reiterated the importance of the work done by local governments in conjunction with non-governmental actors in drafting policies to eradicate poverty and increase prosperity. He committed the Jalisco government to integrating the Millennium Development Goals and the UN’s Post-2015 development agenda into the state’s development plans.

The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Alicia Barcena, gave a lecture on implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. She called Latin America the most unequal region in the world, saying that the inequality of opportunities and income are probably Latin America’s most urgent issues.

UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator, Rebeca Grynspan, moderated a panel that included Alicia Barcena; the Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Ambassador Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo; the Undersecretary of Community Development and Social Participation of SEDESOL, Javier Guerrero; the Health Ministry’s Director of International Affairs; and Roy Caple from Save the Children (an NGO).

Ambassador Patricia Espinosa moderated another panel on the global consultations on the post-2015 agenda. She was accompanied by representatives of the co-chairs of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons for the Post-2015 Agenda, Samuel P. Will Jackson (for co-chair Liberia) and Ashley Cantello (for co-chair United Kingdom), and René Mauricio Valdes from the UN Secretariat for the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda.

Karina Gerlach conveyed a message from Graca Machal, a member of the High Level Panel.

The participants shared information on the work of the panel, which will make recommendations to the Secretary-General on which priorities should be included on the new development agenda, including a comprehensive view to achieve inclusive economic growth, social cohesion and environmental sustainability. In addition, inequality is seen as a key issue on the new agenda, as is the prospect of structural changes.

Prior to the start of the conference for regional consultations, Ambassador Patricia Espinosa, Member of the UN High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, talked with several journalists from Guadalajara about her experience in the current multilateral negotiations on the agenda, and called on the media to support them.

The journalists, in turn, shared their experiences in covering the Millennium Development Goals and their role in shaping the new Development Agenda. They concluded that they needed to add their voices to the global process of consulting on the post-2015 agenda and to the various development issues.

Representatives from civil society organizations, the private sector, and various groups (women, indigenous communities, youths, the disabled and individuals of African descent) will meet from April 17-19 to discuss their visions for the new international development agenda.

The consultations were organized jointly by the Foreign Ministry, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the state government of Jalisco.

You are invited to follow the discussions at: http://participacionsocial.sre.gob.mx/post2015.php