post 2015 guidance note for youth

1 Post 2015 Guidance Note

GUIDANCE NOTE ON STRENGTHENED YOUTH

INVOLVEMENT IN THE POST 2015 NEGOTIATIONS

Developed in 2015 by


Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 3

II. RATIONALE ...................................................................................................................................... 3

III. OVERVIEW OF POST 2015 PROCESS AND GUIDANCE FOR ACTION ................................................... 3

National Level ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Regional Level ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Global Level..6

ANNEX 1: FROM MDGS TO SDG - BACKGROUND ON POST 2015 PROCESS TO DATE .............................. 9

ANNEX 2: WHAT THE PROPOSED 17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS SAY ABOUT YOUTH, SRHR AND HIV ............................................................................................................................................. 12

ANNEX 3: THE COMMON AFRICAN POSITION ON THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA ................ 14


I. INTRODUCTION

There are currently 1.8 billion young people living in the world with a majority of them in developing countries. The potential for young people as well as the danger of not making the right investments in them could not be higher. Following the review of the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) and the many recommendations arising thereof which speak to what young people want, it is extremely important that the Post 2015

development agenda not only address their issues but places them at the heart of the new framework.

This means that young people should be supported to advocate for their issues to be prioritized. Topics such as sexual and reproductive health and rights continue to face opposition by some governments even when evidence abounds on the need to expand the reach and coverage of SRH services for young people. Africa faces the brunt of the HIV burden, high fertility rates as a result of unmet need for family planning, high maternal mortality rates, and unacceptably high teenage pregnancy rates whilst the practice of child marriage continues in many parts of the continent.

The Post 2015 negotiations present an opportunity to ensure that this trend is reversed so that every young person, regardless of where they are in Africa or elsewhere can grow to realize their full potential.

II. RATIONALE

This guidance note is targeted at youth leaders/activists and UNFPA Country Office Youth Focal points and aims to provide an overview of the post-2015 processes that will take place at the various levels in 2015 whilst providing some tips on proposed actions that can be taken to enhance youth participation at every stage of the negotiations1.

III. OVERVIEW OF POST 2015 PROCESS (January to September 2015) AND GUIDANCE FOR ACTION

NATIONAL LEVEL

Whilst there may not be negotiations or other such high profile processes happening at the country level, this is an extremely important space to ensure accountability and to conduct advocacy2 that will influence negotiations at the global level.

1 Please see the following annexes for background information: Annex 1 for a background on the post 2015 process to date; Annex 2 for an analysis on the proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals and what they say about adolescent and young people; Annex 3 for an analysis of the Common African Position on the post-2015 agenda. 2 Please also refer to the ACT!2015 advocacy toolkit for tips and advice on how to effectively plan an advocacy campaign for youth in the Post2015 development agenda: http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/advocacy_toolkit_en_0.pdf


Proposed actions

Youth UNFPA Country Offices and other partners

Mobilize like-minded civil society and youth organisations around the outcomes of the ICPD Beyond 2014 review and any Post 2015 related processes that may have taken place at country level. Broad CSO consultations can be a good space to strategize and share information on opportunities for engagement.

If needed, explore capacity building opportunities for yourself and other CSO partners as the extensive process of Post 2015 can be daunting for those who are not familiar with such processes.

Find out who the key players at country level are, who is leading the Post 2015 process from country level and create relationships with them. These could include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Population Council, Ministry for Development Planning, the Presidency, Ministry of Health and those whose mandate touches on the issues you want to pursue. Some countries have created Inter-Ministerial/Agency Committees on Post 2015. Find out what your local situation is.

In some cases, the government agencies you usually work with may not be actively involved in the negotiations. The Post 2015 Framework concerns everyone and every aspect of society so you can take the initiative and convince them to get engaged.

Conduct a mapping of what key issues are already covered under your national level policies. This will help determine what approach is best when you engage with policy makers.

Consider getting on your government delegation to some of the intergovernmental negotiations, especially for the negotiations in March, June and July when they will be negotiating the Goals and Targets and outcome documents respectively.

Present concrete recommendations to the decision makers and communicate clearly what your expectations for your country in this process are.

Mobilize support among civil society and young people using campaigns, including through social media to raise awareness on the priorities you want the government to highlight.

Support facilitation of partnership and cooperation between youth leaders, youth led organizations, civil society organizations and parliamentarians engaged in advocacy for the inclusion of youth in the post-2015 agenda.

Support young peoples participation in capacity building on the post-2015 processes.

Support young people and youth leaders in their preparation of key events and engagements with CSOs and government leaders on post-2015 discussions, e.g. by sharing key messages and advocacy briefs/materials with national youth delegates attending intergovernmental negotiations and other key meetings.

Support the conduct of situation analysis and review of national level policies related to adolescent and youth issues, e.g. the National Development Plan and National Youth Policy.

Advocate for the inclusion of young people on the government delegations and provide financial support, where feasible.

Support young people and delegates in their preparation of recommendations for inclusion of youth and SRHR/HIV issues in the post-2015 framework.

Support national media and outreach campaigns targeting governments, CSOs, national parliamentarians.

Share key messages through social media platforms with and for young people to highlight key priorities and recommendations.


REGIONAL LEVEL

In 2015, whilst there may be a few events happening at the regional level, the most important processes will take place at the global level; mostly in New York where the intergovernmental negotiations will take place and in Addis Ababa where the Financing for Development (FfD) conference will happen in July.

It is therefore important that governments are encouraged and supported to stick to the regional level consensus, particularly the Common Africa Position (CAP) (see annex 1 and 3) as they engage in negotiations.

Proposed actions


Familiarize yourself with the contents of the CAP so that you can effectively engage with your government on what needs prioritizing. The CAP touches on a wide range of issues, this means that active advocacy with government is critical to ensuring that issues related to health including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights are prioritized.

Familiarize yourself with other continental level instruments like the Maputo Plan of Action and the Continental Framework on SRHR, Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development, etc.

Be realistic of what you can do and consider working as part of a bigger network/coalition of like-minded organisations.

Keep a close eye on the developments at the regional level and subscribe to list serves like the AfriYAN, facebook groups like: African Youth For ICPD +20 and beyond, Post 2015 Development Agenda, Post 2015 Africa, etc. You can also follow certain prominent stakeholders who may share new developments on twitter: @babatundeUNFPA, @post2014 @unfpa @unicef @y4carmma as well as the hashtags #post2015 and other related ones.

Conduct and share youth analysis of the CAP, Maputo Plan of Action, Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development, AU Agenda 2063 and other relevant documents including country specific analysis, reports and possible reservations pertaining to SRHR.

Share periodic updates on the Post 2015 process that you receive so that young people have the latest information to aid their advocacy.


GLOBAL LEVEL

Secretary Generals Report: The SG launched this synthesis report on the Post 2015 process titled The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming Lives and Protecting the Planet in December 2014 and it is expected to feed into the intergovernmental negotiations in 2015 as well as the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

i. Intergovernmental negotiations

Intergovernmental negotiations3 on the Post 2015 agenda began in January 2015 alongside many other key events whose outcomes may serve as inputs for the negotiations. The proposed 17 Goals and 169 Targets from the Open Working Group will form the main basis for negotiations integrating sustainable development goals into the post 2015 development agenda, while recognizing that other inputs will also be considered4. The extent to which other inputs will be considered will become clearer as the process unfolds but will depend very much on the efforts of all stakeholders including young people. The General Assembly draft resolution of 17 December 2014 which set out the modalities for the Post 2015 negotiations provided the following roadmap:

Date Meeting 19-21 January 2015 Stocktaking session 17-20 February 2015 Declaration session 23-27 March 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and targets 20-24 April 2015 Means of Implementation and Global Partnership for Sustainable Development 18-22 May 2015 Follow up and review 22-25 June 2015 Intergovernmental negotiations on the outcome document 20-24 July 2015 and 27-31 July 2015

Intergovernmental negotiations on the outcome document

25-27 September 2015 United Nations Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda

There are other thematic debates and events planned by various stakeholders, including the President of the General Assembly, specific UN agencies and civil society groups which may at varying degrees, serve as inputs into the intergovernmental negotiations. These also include the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) (09-20 March 2015), Commission for Population Development (CPD) (13-17 April 2015), and the High-level Forum (06-08 July 2015).

3 It is worth noting how African Member States are strategically positioned in the Post-2015 process as these can be important entry points for influence throughout the forthcoming negotiations: The majority (quarter) of the members of UN General Assembly are from Africa; The chair (South Africa) and the majority of member of G77 and China are from Africa; Uganda assumed the Presidency of UN General Assembly in September 2014; The post-2015 negotiations are co-facilitated by Kenya; The High Level Committee of Heads of State on Post-2015 is chaired by Liberia and includes the following members from Africa: Guinea, Mauritania, Algeria, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Chad, Congo, Namibia and South Africa. 4 Decision adopted by the General Assembly on the Modalities for the process of intergovernmental negotiations on Post 2015 development agenda. 17th December 2014.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: Member States are currently divided about whether or not the proposal of the OWG should be opened up for actual negotiations. Some countries want to re-negotiate everything, some want to keep the main elements whilst subjecting the targets to technical proofing and others. Whatever happens ultimately, it is important that at least Targets 3.7 and 5.6 are maintained or strengthened whilst ensuring that the indicators are responsive to youth and SRHR. It is expected that the Co-Chairs will be taking general recommendations (elements5) from governments from January to April and will submit by the end of May, the final proposal that will form the basis of negotiations in June and July.

ii. Indicators For Framework

The Co-Facilitators of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda has tasked the UN Statistical Commission to prepare a preliminary list of indicators for the SDGs with input from the international and national statistical communities and UN agencies. The results from the technical group will be discussed at an Expert Group Meeting on 25-26 February and presented to the co-facilitators before the UN Statistical Commission meeting in New York on 23-27 March 2015.

This is an extremely important aspect of the entire process and demands attention from all stakeholders, including young people, to ensure youth-relevant indicators for all relevant SDGs and their targets are included in the final document. It should be noted that while youth or young people are explicitly included in the Open Working Group outcome document in 6 of the 169 targets (see annex 2 for a youth analysis of the OWG document), there may be room for youth relevant indicators under various other targets.

iii. Finance for Development

The third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 13 to 16 July 2015. It will gather high-level political representatives, including Heads of State and Government, and Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, as well as all relevant institutional

stakeholders, non-governmental organizations and business sector entities.

The Conference will result in an inter-governmentally negotiated and agreed outcome, which should constitute an important contribution to and support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. Informal consultations with Members States and drafting sessions on the outcome document are scheduled in January, April and June 2015 while Regional Consultations will be held by the UN Regional Commissions between February and May 2015, co-facilitated by Norway and Guyana.

5 Elements here refer to general statements of what each government deems important and wants to see in the new framework. These will give the Co-Chairs an idea of what to keep or take out when they review the current proposal.


Proposed actions

6 Members of Statistical Commission 2015: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc15/Membership-2015.pdf


Familiarize yourself with the OWG proposed Goals and Targets.

Join networks that are following the process closely in New York so you can be updated about what your government is saying. This will help to know when there is a need for you to act at country or other levels.

You can find ways to get on your government delegation to some of the very important negotiations. In many countries, it may work easier if you have funding for the required meeting and engage with the government agency in good time.

Consider joining one or more of the Major Groups including those on Children and Youth or Women. Be realistic on what you can take on so you do not spread yourself too thin but make sure that you are able to join these groups and get your voice heard.

Share youth analysis of the OWG report. Provide regular summaries of report received from

UNFPA HQ with updates of government. Link youth leaders and youth led organizations to other platforms where updates and reports from meetings are available.

Advocate for the inclusion of young people on the government delegations and provide financial support for travel to high-level meetings, where feasible.

Ensure strategic positioning and engagement with government delegations to maintain high-level political support and inclusion of youth and SRHR/HIV issues in talking points, speeches and key messages for Heads of Missions attending key high-level meetings.

Find out about the Member States who constitute the Statistical Commission6 and work closely with relevant agency at country level if your country is represented there.


ANNEX 1: FROM MDGs to SDGs - BACKGROUND ON POST 2015 PROCESS TO DATE

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) served as a blueprint for development across the world and as a consensus on key priorities needed to ensure development in all countries especially developing ones since their inception in 2001. The eight overarching and interrelated goals together with their set of targets and indicators became the standard against which country development plans and other related policies were measured. Given that the MDGs had 2015 as the target year, it became imperative that a global review process be put in place to assess the progress made till date and ensure a broad consultative process which will determine the new framework that will take effect Post 2015 (i.e. upon the expiration of the MDGs).

i. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Post-2015 Consultation processes

The post-2015 consultation process commenced in 2012 with the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - or Rio+20 where Member States affirmed that People are at the Centre of sustainable development and promised to strive for a world that is just, equitable and inclusive.. a world without distinction of any kind such as age, sex, disability, culture, race or other status and decided to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post 2015 development agenda.

As part of efforts to address some of the criticisms of the MDGs, which were deemed by some as being limited in its consultations, an extensive consultation process was set in motion.

Global consultations and guiding documents

High Level Panel: The UN Secretary General appointed a 27-member High Level Panel that was Co-Chaired by the Presidents of Liberia and Indonesia and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. They held extensive consultations that included three conferences in London, Monrovia and Bali alongside online dialogues. Each of the three conferences produced an outcome document7 and the panel submitted their report8 to the UN Secretary General in May 2013.

Open Working Group: In July 2012, the General Assembly through its resolution 66/288 set out to establish an inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process on sustainable development goals that is open to all stakeholders. This was the Open Working Group which had about 30 seats occupied by about 70 countries which held various thematic sessions among Member States with the active participation of Major Groups and other stakeholders. This Open Working Group

7 Link to outcome documents of HLP meetings: http://www.un.org/sg/management/hlppost2015.shtml 8 Link to HLP Final report: http://www.un.org/sg/management/pdf/HLP_P2015_Report.pdf


(OWG) was chaired by the Permanent Representatives of Kenya and Hungary. The Co-Chairs submitted their final report summarizing the key priorities that emerged from the 13 sessions held, including a set of 17 proposed goals and some 169 targets9 which focused on the three pillars of the sustainable development process: economic, social and environmental (See annex 2 for a youth analysis of the OWG targets).

Thematic Consultations: These consultations centred around 11 themes derived mostly from the trends of the country consultations. Some of the thematic issues included education, health, employment as well as inequalities, environmental sustainability among others10.

During this period, the review11 of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA12) had also started with various milestones that fed into the Post 2015 process at certain stages. Governments at Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014 reaffirmed the ICPD Programme of Action and a new Framework for Action that will deliver the vision of the ICPD in the context of 21st Century challenges and opportunities.

African Regional consultations

At the continental level various milestones have contributed to the Post 2015 discourse so far:

Africa SDG Conference: The UN Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, in conjunction with the African Union hosted the Sustainable Development Conference in Addis Ababa. This conference provided an opportunity for various countries, under sub-regional groupings to share their thoughts on what the priorities for the Post 2015 process should be.

Common African Position13: As a way to ensure that Africa engages with the Post 2015 negotiations as a unified voice, the Heads of States initiated a process to develop the Common African Position, CAP. The CAP was developed by representatives of governments using the outcomes of various regional level processes and civil society consultations as inputs. It is centred around six pillars14 including one on People-Centred Development. This pillar captures issues related to health, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, education, employment etc. (See annex 3 for an analysis of the CAP).

Country consultations15

UN country teams led extensive national level consultations around the MDGs and priorities for the new development framework in 88 countries. Out of these 26 were from Africa.

9 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html 10 http://www.worldwewant2015.org/sitemap#thematic 11 This was officially called the ICPD Beyond 2014 Review 12 See box 1 for a brief summary of the ICPD Beyond 2014 review process 13 Link to the CAP: file:///H:/Documents/AYH%20cluster/Post%202015%20-%20Youth/Common%20African%20Position-%20ENG%20final.pdf 14 The six pillars of the CAP are: Structural economic transformation and inclusive growth; Science, technology and innovation; People-centered development; Environmental sustainability, natural resources management and disaster risk management; Peace and security; and Finance and partnerships. 15 http://www.worldwewant2015.org/sitemap#national


Youth participation in the post-2015 consultations to date and key reference documents

Within all the processes explained above, young peoples participation has been very instrumental. Particularly, young people were very vocal in the ICPD beyond 2014 review that has been one of the main sources of recommendations for the Post 2015 agenda. Through the Global Youth Forum in Bali and other thematic and regional conferences, young people contributed to drawing lessons from the last 20 years of ICPD implementation to inform future actions. They also made direct inputs through the Major Group on Children and Youth as well as through membership in other Major Groups working around this process.

Some of the key documents from these processes include the Bali ICPD Declaration was the result of the Global Youth Forum and the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development.


ANNEX 2: WHAT THE PROPOSED 17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS SAY ABOUT YOUTH, SRHR AND HIV

In the proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it is worth noting that there seem to have been a deliberate attempt to be all encompassing as more Member States are coming to the realization that sustainable development needs to include every group in society. This means that at the goal level a number of the goals aim for All instead of focusing on specific groups like the youth. With the exception of Goal 5 which focuses on women and girls, all the remaining 16 goals aim for everyone. In a world where there are so many competing and urgent development needs, it is critical that the new framework is stronger on prioritization. This could be achieved if the targets under these goals pay particular attention to certain groups and key issues.

Population group analysis youth and children

Youth and Young People are mentioned in 6 of the 169 targets; twice under Goal 4 on education where they are mentioned alongside adults; three times under Goal 8 on employment and once under Goal 13 on climate change.

Adolescent girls are explicitly targeted in goal 2, target 2 regarding nutrition.

Girls are mentioned under 7 targets. They are mentioned once under Goal 2, twice under Goal 4, three times under Goal 5 and once under Goal 6.

Boys are mentioned twice under Goal 4 on Education.

The lack of a clear focus on youth across the proposed SDGs is a cause for concern as young people continue to be disproportionately affected by the existence of poverty, poor health among others. The extent to which the SDGs focus on young people will be the true test of how sustainable the new framework is. Young people need to engage actively to ensure that any modifications to the proposed framework improve on this focus.

Thematic analysis

SRHR and HIV and AIDS : Sexual and Reproductive Health was mentioned twice in the entire framework, once under Goal 3, target 7 on health where the term sexual and reproductive health care services are mentioned as well as under Goal 5, target 6 where sexual and reproductive health and


reproductive rights are mentioned in accordance with the ICPD PoA. HIV and AIDS are mentioned under Goal 3, target 3 under elimination of communicable diseases.

Maternal mortality is reflected under goal 3, target 1 on health with a target for reduction of the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.

Gender based violence (GBV) and discrimination are mentioned under goal 5, target 1 and target 2.

Harmful practices and child marriage are mentioned under goal 5, target 3: Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations.

Data, monitoring and accountability: Goal 17, target 18 refer to the need to increase availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts.

Issues that are not reflected in the OWG document but appear in the CAP are Comprehensive Sexuality Education and the Demographic Dividend.


ANNEX 3: THE COMMON AFRICAN POSITION ON THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

The Common African Position (CAP) on the Post 2015 Development Agenda was adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government during their Summit of January 2014 and further refined by the High Level Committee of African Heads of State and Government with the addition of a new pillar on Peace and Security. It is the collective aspiration by 54 African Member States and commitment by Heads of State and Government to speak with one Voice and act in unity to ensure that Africa's voice is heard and is fully integrated into the global development agenda.

Africa is the only continent with a joint negotiating document, the Common Africa Position (CAP) on Post-2015 adopted by all the Heads of State and Government of the Continent.

Although the CAP was the initiative of governments, further advocacy is still required to ensure for example, that references to universal access to comprehensive sexual reproductive health and reproductive rights (e.g. family planning) as found under Pillar Three on People Centred Development is not lost as Africa negotiates with the world.

1. Structural Economic Transformation and Inclusive Growth;

:

Universal access to comprehensive sexual reproductive health and reproductive rights (e.g. family planning);

Maternal health;

Improve mental health;

Ending the epidemics of HIV and AIDS

Job creation, especially for youth;

Equitable access to health care and social services;

Eliminate human trafficking, especially youth, particularly girls.

Continental framework on Demographic Dividends;

Strengthen skills, capacity and access to financial services;

Job creation;

Youth participation in decision making processes

CAP has 6 pillars (priority areas)

Structural Economic

Transformation and Inclusive

Growth

Science, technology

and innovation

People centered

development

Environmental sustainability and natural

disaster management

Financing and partnerships

Peace and security

Pillar 3 identifies substantive issues of importance to African Adolescents and Youth, including

The eradication of poverty

Education and human

capital development

Universal and equitable

access to quality

healthcare

Gender equality and

womens empowermen

t

Leveraging population dynamics

for development

Harnessing Africas youthful

population (Demographi

c Dividends)

Improving access to

sustainable human

settlements

Introduction of age-appropriate and comprehensive sexuality education

Eradicating all forms of violence against women and children, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage