Friday, August 14, 2015

Final Push To Achieve MDGs And Create Sustainable Post-2015 Development Agenda 19

ISPE       EAG
INTERATIONAL SOCIETY FOR POVERTY ELIMINATION                   ECONOMIC ALLIANCE GROUP

Briefing # 3: AAAA and SDG – So What Can We Do Next?
Global Call to World Leaders, Representatives of 193 UN Member States, 9 Major Groups, other CSOs’ and other Stakeholders.
By Lanre Rotimi and Charles Sheke.                                                            14 August 2015


We celebrate achievements so far moving forward Post 2015 Development Agenda. Giant Strides have been made and much has been achieved. However, much more remains to be done. We now have SDG that has been agreed in August and could be adopted in September 2015 during the 70th UN General Assembly.  

In Briefings #1 and #2, we focused on need to answer HOW Questions now in the Finance for Development, FfD and Post 2015 Processes. It is pertinent to note that the latest outcome document, Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, improves on language and text. This is commendable. However, improvements where it matters the most - answer to HOW questions is still missing.

It is a puzzle that many UN Staff including Experts with responsibility for Public Communication of Addis Ababa Action Agenda, AAAA and Sustainable Development Goals, SDG issues as well as Technical Experts in UNDESA, FfD Office, ECOSOC Office, EOSG and OPGA etc are aware that: many people outside New York – in communities in 193 UN Member States tend not to know what is going on in New York in terms of AAAA and SDG; there are gaps in AAAA and SDG that need to be filled and disconnect that needs to be linked; and that NOW is the time to think ahead about - How to promote and protect an exciting Post 2015 Development Agenda; How to mobilize for Implementation Impact and How to mobilize for Global Collective Action driven by Collective Action at Sub-national, National, Sub-regional and Regional levels; yet these same UN Staff and Representatives of 193 UN Member States seek to avoid or evade answer to FfD and Post 2015 Processes How questions that we have consistently raised.

So What Can We Do Next?












There are many knotty and sensitive outstanding issues in the AAAA and SDG documents whose successful resolution greatly determine if the AAAA and SDG will be Vision and Words that do not become Action or Vision and Words that are Action Plans with Action. Yes, AAAA and SDG are scheduled for adoption by World Leaders on 25 September 2015. However World Leaders will be doing our Fragile Planet Great Service, if additional time is given to the successful resolution of these knotty and sensitive outstanding issues. If World Leaders have to wait till November or December 2015 to adopt AAAA and SDG documents with little or no gaps and disconnects, this will be a very worthwhile wait indeed.

The AAAA and SDG documents that are finally adopted must demonstrate that indeed Lessons have been Learnt from the first 70 years of the UN and that in the next 5 years Reforms are Designed and Delivered to produce a UN as International Institution fit for the 21st Century, thus ensuring that in 70 years when the generation then look back they would indeed thank this generation for taking the Right Decisions on AAAA and SDG.

Big Questions






From now till World Leaders adopt AAAA and SDG before the end of 2015, ACTION on the part of Stakeholders in each Community in each of the 193 Member States is the Key because as a Stakeholder – What you do and What you say is GOING to Influence the Process leading to the AAAA and SDG document that is finally adopted.

Stakeholders must ensure clear delineation of Rights, Duties and Responsibilities of each AAAA and SDG Stakeholder. In the AAAA and SDG document that is finally adopted, it must be clear What each Stakeholder in going to do?, that is, Who is going to do What?; Who is going to provide What Fund?; Who is responsible for mobilizing What Fund?; Exactly How is each Agenda Item going to be Implemented? Exactly How is the Implementation of each Agenda item going to be Monitored and Evaluated?

It will be grave error of putting the cart before the horse to assume that these knotty and sensitive issues can be avoided or evaded at this time. It is wishful thinking to assume that the authorities could go ahead to persuade or pressure World Leaders to adopt AAAA and SDG as is, despite their flaws and failures, on 25 September 2015 as scheduled and move forward to try to reach the over 7 Billion People in our World today within 7 days of the adoption of AAAA and SDG in the vain hope of mobilizing Action for Delivery of AAAA and SDG that could be successful on sustainable basis.

Achieving Result on Sustainable Basis











UN Executives and Staff, 193 Member States Leaders and Bureaucrats need to recognize that some Results could be achieved if World Leaders adopt AAAA and SDG as is, on 25 September 2015 and move forward as scheduled. However, this type of Result is likely to have minimal impact on the successful resolution of real and complex World Political and Cultural; Economic and Financial; Social and Environmental; Peace and Security; Religious and Moral problems on the ground in the specific context of each Community in each of the 193 Member States. The implication is that moving forward without resolving knotty and sensitive AAAA and SDG outstanding issues, is likely to have catastrophic consequences for Citizens on both Developed and Developing Countries sides in our World today.

UN Executives and Staff, 193 Member States Leaders and Bureaucrats need to recognize that Amazing Positive Results on Sustainable basis could be achieved if World Leaders adopt AAAA and SDG documents in November or December 2015 that effectively answer above Big Questions and in ways that properly and practically address, from Village to Global levels in each of the 193 Member States, the following issues:-
1.     Development Impact
2.     Development Effectiveness
3.     Development Results
4.     Development Learning
5.     Inclusion
6.     Proportional Benefit
7.     Delineation of Responsibilities, Duties and Rights
8.     Universal Values
9.     Sustainability

As long as this is not done, the probability is high that AAAA and SDG will end up as Vision and Words that Do Not Become Action. It is our prayer that this does not become the case in reality because in rejecting Ordered Change that promote and protect Coordination, Collaboration and Cooperation in accelerating Stakeholders on Road to Boom, we make inevitable, Disordered Change that promote and protect Distrust, Corruption, Injustice and Inequality in accelerating Stakeholders on Road to Doom.

Powerlessness  

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Many Stakeholders in Communities in each of the 193 UN Member States are looking up to UN Executives and Staff to solve their National and International Development Cooperation problems. The UN Executives and Staff in turn are looking up to Stakeholders in Communities, particularly Civil Society including Academia, Media, Women Groups, Youth Groups, CBOs’, NGOs’, Traditional Institutions, Religious Institutions, Labour Unions, Student Unions, Market Men and Women, Organized Private Sector etc to strengthen its hand in the work towards helping to solve National and International Development Cooperation problems on the ground in 193 Member Countries. The AAAA and SDG must break this Viscous Circle of Powerlessness.

Root Problems


Our study finding is that root problems of coordination, collaboration and cooperation worsened by root problems of leadership and followership make root problems of hunger, poverty, inequality, terrorism, corruption etc appear insoluble.

To solve these complex root problems on successful and sustainable basis, Stakeholders in the Economy of each of the 193 UN Member States need to recognize that:-
1.     Root problems on Planning Side - Research, Planning, Data; Implementation Side - Implementation; Evaluation Side - Monitoring, Evaluation, Assessment; Learning Side - Learning and Results; Accountability Side - Transparency, Accountability, Citizens / Stakeholders Participation.
2.     Root problems of Common Definition of Goals, Targets, Indicators, Advocacy, Development Research, Standards.
3.     Root problems of SMART OVI - Specific: Measurable and Unambiguous: Attainable and Sensitive; Relevant and Easy to Collect; Time Bound Objectively Validated Indicators - OH2A2T2LRP: Ownership, Alignment, Accountability, Transparency, Transformation, Leadership, Learning, Results, Participation.
4.     Root problems of Common Approach
need to be Jointly tackled within Sub-national, National / Sub-regional / Regional / Global Collective ACTION for Political Stability, Economic Stability, Financial Stability, Peace and Security and Fighting Corruption within Integrated Solutions - Technical, Security, Political, Economic, Financial, Spiritual and Technology.

Once Stakeholders produce credible Action Plans with ACTION, through AAAA and SDG that address all outstanding knotty and sensitive issues, Implementation of the Action Agenda Items in AAAA and SDG cannot be thwarted for lack of Resources - Influence, Science, Technology, Innovation, Manpower, Funding, Spiritual, (Land and Water for Food and Agriculture).

As long as Non Integrated Solutions continue to be sought to complex National and International Development problems through Multiple Approaches with weak / no theory and weak / no practice, Stakeholders in each of the 193 UN Member States shall continue to dance around National and International Development issues / problems, with ultimate catastrophic consequences. 

The good news is that adequate Integrated Solutions and One Worldwide Approach that are sufficiently All Embracing, All Inclusive and Ambitious, exist and are available to Governments, International Institutions and Partners in the Economy of each of the 193 Member States.

AAAA and SDG for both Developed and Developing Countries

It is erroneous to assume that it is only Developing Countries that need help implementing AAAA and SDG – No Developed Countries and International Institutions including UN Agencies, World Bank Group and IMF need help too. It is erroneous to assume Developed Countries are participating in AAAA and SDG as Act of Charity and Morality to support Developing Countries – No Developed Countries have Decayed Infrastructure and Decayed Systems and need to fully implement all 17 / 21 SDG as One as Act of Economic Well Being and National Security. These errors need to be identified and tackled if the above Root problems are to be identified and tackled successfully.

 

Needed Reforms








Each of the 193 UN Member States needs to make minimum certain levels of continuous improvements in Economic Employment and Empowerment, Growth and Development; Governance, Anti-Corruption, Conflict Resolution and Religious Affairs; Data Management; Partnership Platforms and Communication Management, if it is to make serious inroads into poverty elimination and environmental sustainability. To do that requires partnership within each UN Member Country by the public and private sectors at Community, Local Government, State Government and National Government levels and internationally, a partnership between the UN Member Country and Countries in its Sub-region, Region and rest of the World.

These national and international partnerships need to be re-established where it exists, established where it does not exist; nurtured for empowerment, growth development and sustainability within National Sustainable Development Strategy, NSDS, including the entire National Government Reform Program, All State Governments Reform Program, All Local Governments Reform Program and each community of each Local Government Reform Program in the specific UN Member Country.

The Stakeholders in these Reforms need to be Strengthened by Internal Consultants and External Consultants who have required levels of Hard Competences – Learning and Skills and Soft Competences – Character, Courage and Mindset to support each Stakeholder to acquire and sustain minimum certain levels of Hard Competences and Soft Competences required to achieve AAAA and SDG Goals and Targets that their specific Institution and or Sector have been saddled with responsibility to achieve.

Doing More with Same



UN Executives and Staff are expecting Stakeholders to come to the September 2015 Summit with Commitments on How to take AAAA and SDG forward and that from the September Summit to the Paris Summit Action is the Key. The problem with this approach is that it assumes that all necessary arrangements for effectively Mobilizing Peoples Voices and Aspirations in each Community in each of the 193 member Countries can just be left to happen and that they can just do their best in the hope that this will be good enough to achieve AAAA and SDG Vision Ambitions. Are they really doing their Best? Are they actually Learning Lessons from Lessons Learnt? Can fine-tunings not be made to do more with same and in the process significantly improve Stakeholder coordination, collaboration and cooperation? We urge UN Executives and Staff to Reflect on these questions and do the needful.


Conclusion



The gaps and disconnect in AAAA and SDG due to flaws and failures in FfD and Post 2015 Processes suggest that this assumption is not likely to hold true in reality. If UN Executives and Staff as well as Developed Countries Leaders and Bureaucrats continue to over celebrate the successes of FfD and Post 2015 Processes thus far while Developing Countries Leaders and Bureaucrats and CSO – particularly NGOs’ and CBOs’ Executives and Staff continue to bemoan or overlook their disappointments, the probability is that Village to Global Stakeholders will continue with Business as Usual while taking chance that World problems will fizzle out or accept our lot should catastrophe occur – starting with Global Recession that could make that of 1930s’ Child’s play.

If UN Executives and Staff as well as Developed Countries Leaders and Bureaucrats decide to put the horse before the cart and change to Business Unusual as recommended in the Synthesis Report, the probability is high that bright prospects of success implementing AAAA and SDG that has all is’ doted and all t’s crossed would become reality unleashing unprecedented Prosperity on successful and sustainable basis in our World.

UN Executive and Staff; Developed Countries Leaders and Bureaucrats; Developing Countries Leaders and Bureaucrats and CSO Executives and Staff have a choice to make from the above options. No choice is a choice.

Our Suggestion: UN Executives and Staff can help 193 Member States; CSOs’ and other Stakeholders make the Right Choice if UNDESA, FfD Office, ECOSOC Office, EOSG and OPGA accept to jointly nudge all remaining Stakeholders to address all issues raised in this Policy Briefings and on time.

God Bless UN.

God Bless our World.

Contact:
Lanre Rotimi
Director General
International Society for Poverty Elimination /
Economic Alliance Group
Akure – Nigeria, West Africa.

M: +234-8162469805