Organization of the United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda

A/RES/69/244View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 13a Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields and 115 Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit, published in 2015.

What subjects does this mandate have?

1 subject

Conferences

What’s in this document?

15 operative paragraphs

Decides that the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will be held from 25 to 27 September 2015, in New York, and convened as a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly;

Also decides that the rules of procedure and established practices of the General Assembly shall apply for the summit unless otherwise decided in the present resolution and the annexes thereto;

Further decides that the general debate of the General Assembly at its seventieth session will begin on 28 September 2015, on the understanding that these arrangements shall in no way create a precedent for the general debate at future sessions;

Decides that the summit will be composed of plenary meetings concurrent with interactive dialogues;

Invites, owing to the importance of the summit, the Head of State of the country of the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session and the Head of State or Government of the country of the President of the Assembly at its seventieth session to jointly preside over the summit;

Reiterates that the 2015 summit will be held with the participation of Heads of State or Government, and encourages all Member States to be represented at that level;

Invites the United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, as well as the Bretton Woods institutions, including the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the regional development banks, the regional commissions of the United Nations and other relevant stakeholders, including parliamentarians, academia, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, major groups² and the private sector, to participate in the summit, including in its interactive dialogues and preparatory process, according to the modalities specified in the annexes to the present resolution, and encourages them, as well as Member States and observers, to consider initiatives and activities in the preparation and the lead up to the summit;

²As identified in Agenda 21 (Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II). The major groups are: business and industry; children and youth; farmers; indigenous peoples; local authorities; non-governmental organizations; scientific and technological community; women; and workers and trade unions.

Reiterates that, to arrive at an inclusive and people-centred post-2015 development agenda, the summit should engage all relevant stakeholders;

Invites the Inter-Parliamentary Union, including through the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, to develop and submit a contribution to the summit;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to organize, with early preparations and in the most effective and efficient way, and to preside over two days of informal interactive hearings, before June 2015, with representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, major groups and the private sector, and requests the President of the Assembly to prepare a summary of the hearings, to be made available prior to the summit;

Requests the Secretary-General to use the existing United Nations trust funds established prior to the high-level meetings of 2005 and 2010, as appropriate, to enhance the participation of representatives of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations and major groups from developing countries in the hearings and the summit itself, and encourages Member States and others, as appropriate, to provide further support to the trust funds;

Also requests the Secretary-General, in order to enhance the active participation in the summit of representatives from developing countries, particularly from the least developed countries, to make efforts to use, in an efficient and effective manner, the limited available resources for that purpose;

Reaffirms the decision to consider at its sixty-ninth session the need to convene a meeting of the high-level political forum under the auspices of the General Assembly in 2015 in relation to the launch of the post-2015 development agenda, with a view to reaching agreement by the end of 2014 in this regard;

Requests the President of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly to hold open, inclusive and transparent intergovernmental consultations with all Member States through the appointment, by the end of September 2014, of two co-facilitators, one from a developing country and one from a developed country, with a view to reaching agreement on all remaining issues relating to the intergovernmental negotiation process, including the summit;

Requests that the organization and modalities for the intergovernmental negotiations be established by the end of December 2014, keeping in mind the need for effective coordination and coherence in order to build synergies with other relevant United Nations intergovernmental processes.

Organization of the plenary meetings and establishment of the list of speakers for the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda

The summit will consist of plenary meetings as follows:

25 September 2015, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

26 September 2015, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

27 September 2015, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The podium in the General Assembly Hall will have three seats to accommodate the two Co-Chairs and the Secretary-General.

The list of speakers for the plenary meetings of the summit will be established in accordance with the rules of procedure and established practices of the General Assembly. The initial list of speakers for the summit will be available in May 2015.

At the opening plenary meeting, on Friday morning, 25 September 2015, the initial speakers will include the two Co-Chairs, the Secretary-General and the head of the delegation of the host country of the Organization.

A representative from civil society of appropriate stature and level will be included in the list of speakers as keynote speaker after the opening statements.

Representatives of the intergovernmental groupings, the President of the World Bank Group, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization and the heads of the United Nations system may also be included in the list of speakers for the plenary meetings of the summit.

Without prejudice to other organizations which have observer status in the General Assembly, a representative of each of the following may also be included in the list of speakers for the plenary meetings of the summit:

League of Arab States

African Union

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

World Conference of Speakers of Parliament of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

In order to accommodate all speakers at the summit, statements will be limited to five minutes, on the understanding that this will not preclude the distribution of more extensive texts.

Other than for Member States, the list of speakers for the plenary meetings of the summit will be closed on Monday, 3 August 2015.

The arrangements set out above shall in no way create a precedent.

Organization of the interactive dialogues for the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda

The summit will hold six interactive dialogues, as follows:

25 September 2015, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

26 September 2015, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

27 September 2015, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The six dialogues will be co-chaired by two Heads of State or Government.

The interactive dialogues will be guided by the rules of procedure and established practices of the General Assembly.

The chairs of the interactive dialogues will be from the African States, the Asia-Pacific States, the Eastern European States, the Latin American and Caribbean States and the Western European and other States. The chairs will be selected by their respective regional groups in consultation with the President of the General Assembly.

Following the selection of chairs of the dialogues, participation will be determined on a first-come, first-served basis, ensuring that equitable geographical distribution is maintained, allowing for some flexibility. Member States are encouraged to be represented at the interactive dialogues at the level of Head of State or Government.

While retaining the intergovernmental character of the interactive dialogues, the United Nations system and other stakeholders, in accordance with annex IV below, are also invited to participate in the interactive dialogues. Arrangements will be made through existing and appropriate United Nations information and communications technology platforms to facilitate in this regard.

The themes for the interactive dialogues will be decided through the intergovernmental negotiation process for the summit.

The list of participants in each interactive dialogue will be made available prior to the meeting.

Summaries of the deliberations of the interactive dialogues will be presented orally by the chairs of the interactive dialogues or their representatives during the concluding plenary meeting of the United Nations summit.

Organization of the informal interactive hearings

The President of the General Assembly will preside over two days of informal interactive hearings to be held before June 2015. The hearings will include participation from non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, civil society organizations, the private sector and major groups³ and an exchange of views with Member States.

³As identified in Agenda 21 (Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II). The major groups are: business and industry; children and youth; farmers; indigenous peoples; local authorities; non-governmental organizations; scientific and technological community; women; and workers and trade unions.

The hearings will be attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, civil society organizations, the private sector, major groups and Member States and observers.

The President of the General Assembly will determine the list of invited participants and the exact format and organization of the hearings, in consultation with Member States and representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, civil society organizations, the private sector and major groups.

The themes of the hearings will be informed by the synthesis report of the Secretary-General and decided on by the President of the General Assembly in consultation with Member States.

Other participants

Representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, including those on the roster through the list of the Commission on Sustainable Development, representatives of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations that have participated in previous United Nations summits and non-governmental organizations and other major groups that were accredited to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 1992 and in 2002, respectively, will be invited to participate in the plenary meetings and interactive dialogues of the summit.

The President of the General Assembly will draw up a list of other relevant representatives of relevant non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions and the private sector who may participate in the plenary meetings and interactive dialogue of the summit, taking into account the principle of transparency and the principle of equitable geographical representation, and submit the proposed list to Member States for their consideration on a non-objection basis.⁴

⁴The list of proposed as well as final names will be brought to the attention of the General Assembly, noting the general basis of any objections.

Representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, civil society organizations, major groups and the private sector, one from each grouping, selected through a transparent and inclusive process during the informal interactive hearings, may also be included in the list of speakers for the plenary meetings of the summit, in consultation with the President of the General Assembly.

In addition, interested non-governmental organizations that are not in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and private sector representatives may apply to the General Assembly following the procedures detailed in this annex. The complete list of applicants will be circulated to Member States.

The arrangements set out above shall in no way create a precedent.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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