By
United Nations Development ProgrammeSeptember 4, 2002
Three events at the World Summit on Sustainable Development [WSSD]in Johannesburg spotlighted the key role of civil society in efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Grassroots Academy on the MDGs, co-sponsored by GROOTS International (Grass Roots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood) and the UNDP Civil Society Division, brought together community leaders and activists on 31 August to brainstorm on how to mobilize local networks of community groups in support of the MDGs and link these efforts to global development networks.
UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and Ana Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, opened the event by underscoring the value of working with grassroots communities and the critical role they can play in campaigning for the MDGs, which are the agenda endorsed by world leaders for halving severe poverty by 2015 and reaching other global priorities.
Speakers included leading activists from Shackdwellers International (the slum dwellers' movement), indigenous peoples' organizations and groups campaigning against HIV/AIDS. Participants agreed to set up a pilot project to support national community dialogues on MDGs, activate an electronic learning platform among key community groups, and make information about the MDGs available in a community-friendly format.
The event highlighted the role of UNDP as a global development network facilitating dialogue and knowledge sharing, South-South learning exchanges and capacity development.
A policy dialogue on the MDGs on 1 September, co-sponsored by the Sustainable Development Issues Network, brought together leading groups from North and South, including Martin Khor from Third World Network, a member of the UNDP Civil Society Advisory Committee, to discuss the MDGs with Mr. Malloch Brown.
Participants discussed cooperation between civil society and the UN vis-í -vis the MDGs, policies that will underpin the MDGs, and how they converge with existing development frameworks and can be integrated into national programmes.
"The MDGs are about expanding choices, not replacing one development paradigm with another," said Mr. Malloch Brown. He emphasized that the role of the UN is to provide a space for dialogue and for critical voices to be heard.
At a round table on Indigenous Peoples and MDGs on 2 September, co-sponsored with Tebtebba Foundation of the Philippines, panelists and the audience questioned development paradigms that underpin the MDGs, as well as indicators used to measure progress.
Discussion focused on obstacles to achieving the MDGs, including conflict, discrimination, lack of disaggregated data that reflects conditions in indigenous communities and their lack of land titles and — most importantly —- lack of recognition of indigenous peoples' rights. The newly established Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the UNDP regional programme in Asia were seen as valuable avenues to address these issues.
UNDP is also a key member of a partnership on Indigenous Rights and Sustainable Development launched by Denmark on 1 September. The partnership aims to enhance the ability of indigenous peoples to influence development policies and decision-making and promote knowledge sharing between donor agencies and indigenous peoples. The partnership's plan of action will be discussed at a seminar in Copenhagen in early 2003.
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