Southern Voice discussed how to turn evidence into action for the post-2015 agenda

25-26 June 2013, in UN Foundation, New York

Members of the Southern Voice network were part of the event Turning evidence into action for the post-2015 agenda organised by ODI and the United Nations Foundation. The event brought together scholars and analysts from a variety of fields to discuss the evidence currently available for the debate of the next development agenda in a variety of topics including: education, energy, agriculture, health and nutrition. The event also had panel sessions to discuss some of the current crossroads in the debate such as environmental resilience, economic transformation and the required global reforms to achieve the next development goals.

Debapriya Bhattacharya (CPD, Southern Voice) participated in the panel on economic transformation along Charles Kenny (CGD) and Hoseana Bohela Lunogelo (ESRF, Southern Voice). The participants agreed that economic transformation is a key aspect to achieve the goal of eradicating poverty. Without it, achievement can be volatile and poor people may be highly vulnerable to changes in the economy. The panel presented the complexity of tracking poverty with a long-term focus and not through just short-terms policies. The panelists called for more comprehensive research on quality jobs, how to measure them and how to achieve them to promote there are clear goals in this respect in the next development agenda.

Mustafizur Rahman (CPD, Southern Voice), Andrea Ordóñez (Southern Voice) and Jonathan Glennie (ODI) debated the global reforms necessary to tackle this century’s challenges. The panel discussed the crucial sources of resources that should be analysed to achieve the next development agenda, including the carbon markets, local taxes, national sovereign funds. In addition, trade, migration and the global financial architecture should be reformed to allow more policy space to finance the next development agenda. These changes, the panel agreed, would not be achievable without a substantial change in the way the agenda is formulated. In this sense the new agenda should promote new partnerships where official development assistance is not the only source of financing, and where all countries can share the responsibility for achieving the proposed goals.

[tabgroup] [tab title=”Programme Summary”]

Day 1

Welcome

  • Claire Melamed, Head of Growth, Poverty & Inequality, ODI
  • Minh-Thu Pham, Director of Policy, UN Foundation

Social and environmental resilience: building a post-2015 agenda that lasts

Chair: Claire Melamed, Head of Growth, Poverty & Inequality, ODI

Panelists:

Water and Energy

Chair: Andrew Scott, Research Fellow, ODI

Panelists:

  • Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee, Senior Economist, World Bank
  • Youba Sokona, Special Adviser on Sustainable Development, South Centre
  • Darren Saywell, WASH/CLTS Technical Director, Plan International USA
  • Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of WASH and Associate Director of Programmes, UNICEF
  • Ryan Hobert, Director, Energy and Climate, UNF

Education

Chair: Susan Nicolai, Head of Project, Development Progress, ODI

Panelists:

  • Allison Anderson, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Universal Education, Brookings
  • Dzingai Mutumbuka, Chair, Association for Education Development in Africa (ADEA)
  • Jamira Burley, Youth Advisory Group, Education First
  • Nora Fyles, Head, UNGEI Secretariat

Financing a post-2015 agenda

Chair: Minh-Thu Pham, Director of Policy, UN Foundation

Panelists:

 

Day 2

Delivering poverty eradication: economic transformation, employment and social protection

Chair: Claire Melamed, Head of Growth, Poverty & Inequality, ODI

Panelists:

  • Charles Kenny, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
  • Hoseana Bohela Lunogelo, Executive Director, Economic and Social Research Foundation
  • Debapriya Bhattacharya, Chair, Southern Voice on Post-MDGs and Chair, LDC IV Monitor

Sustainable agriculture and food production

Chair: Andrew Shepherd, Director of Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, ODI

Panelists:

Health and nutrition

Chair: Kumanan Rasanathan, Health Specialist, UNICEF

Panelists:

  • Adam Wagstaff, Research Manager, Development Research Group, World Bank
  • Jacob Kumaresan, Executive Director, WHO New York Office
  • Susan Myers, Vice President, UN Relations, UN Foundation

Integrating environmental sustainability and human development

Chair: Claire Melamed, Head of Growth, Poverty & Inequality, ODI

Panelists:

  • Maryam Niamir-Fuller, Director, GEF Coordination Office, UNEP
  • Peter Hazelwood, Director, Ecosystems and Development, WRI
  • James Murombedzi, RFGI Programme Coordinator, CODESRIA

Global reforms for delivering a post-2015 agenda

Chair: Paul Ladd, Senior Adviser and Head, UNDP Team on Post-2015

Panelists:

  • Jonathan Glennie, Research Fellow, ODI
  • Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
  • Andrea Ordóñez, Research Coordinator, Southern Voice on Post-MDGs
[/tab] [tab title=”Papers Presented”]

Day 1

Social and environmental resilience: building a post-2015 agenda that lasts

Water and Energy

Financing a post-2015 agenda

Day 2

Sustainable agriculture and food production

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