Beyond 2015: Reducing poverty after the MDGs

01 February 2013

Jump to: Latest coverage | Previous meetings | Background information

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Overview

A group of 27 world leaders is working together to find the best ways to tackle global poverty after the year 2015 - the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda (HLP) - set up by the United Nations - will shape a new global approach to international development, following discussions from around the world. It is due to report back in May 2013.

It is co-chaired by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyo.

In a series of three meetings, one in each of the host countries, the panel will hear from local charities, community groups, businesses and development experts as they spell out their priorities for a post 2015 agenda.

Beyond the meetings themselves, the panel wants to hear from individuals, inviting citizens to have their say. There are two key ways to get involved:

• MY World – take a quick global survey of the key issues
• World We Want 2015 – feed in your ideas to the in-depth discussions

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Latest coverage

01 FEBRUARY 2013 - MONROVIA, LIBERIA

The High Level Panel completed their talks in Monrovia, Liberia with a promise to keep a tight focus on ending extreme poverty whilst helping to build continued prosperity for all with a 'people-centered' agenda.

In their concluding statement, the co-chairs said:

"Our vision and our responsibility is to end extreme poverty in all its forms in the context of sustainable development and to have in place the building blocks of sustained prosperity for all. We seek to make gains in poverty eradication irreversible.

"This is a global, people-centered and planet-sensitive agenda to address the universal challenges of the 21st century: promoting sustainable development, supporting job-creating growth, protecting the environment and providing peace, security, justice, freedom and equity at all levels"

• Read the final outcome document from the Monrovia talks [PDF 60Kb]

Video: Final statement by the co-chairs of the Post 2015 panel

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30 JANUARY 2013 - MONROVIA, LIBERIA

British Prime Minister David Cameron is co-chairing the UN's High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, which is meeting in Monrovia, Liberia this week for its latest round of talks.

President Yudhoyo of Indonesia, President Sirleaf of Liberia and Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured at the UN High Level Panel. Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Video: David Cameron on his aims and focus for talks in Liberia

 

The three areas of focus for the latest discussions are social equity, environmental sustainability and economic transformation.

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia said:

"We are honoured by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's appointment to Co-Chair the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons, to listen to the voices of the hundreds of millions of Africans and countless others from around the planet.

"Through robust consultations, we are hearing what the world considers a reasoned, practical development agenda that can successfully eliminate the myriad dimensions of poverty by 2015 and beyond."

With the spotlight on Africa, local citizens are being encouraged to add their ideas via the Ask Africa Now website. At a global level, individuals are invited to take the MY World survey to choose their priorities for a better world.

Follow live updates from the talks on Storify below.

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Previous meetings

03 NOVEMBER 2012 - LONDON, UK

The High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda concluded its London set of talks with a promise to work together to fight global poverty and the aspiration to end extreme poverty within a lifetime.

Panel co-chairs: British Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesian President Yudhoyono. Picture: M Castro/UN Photo.

Co-chair of the High Level Panel Prime Minister David Cameron said:

"There is more progress to be made between now and 2015, but we are clear the next stage should be aiming to eradicate absolute poverty in our world.

"That is something politicians have been talking about for a while, but for the first time I believe this generation really has the opportunity to do it."

The meetings covered food, energy, education, jobs, health care and how best to reach those excluded from the traditional pathways out of poverty.

The panel will continue discussions over the next eight months before meeting again in Monrovia, Liberia, early next year. Individuals, businesses and charities can continue to contribute to the debate online over the next two days.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said:

"We cannot afford to exclude anyone from the next stages of the MDG agenda and I believe we all have a crucial role to play.

"I look forward to hearing your ideas on ways for us to work more collaboratively to improve the lives of the worlds' poorest."

Catch up with each of the day's events in the summaries below, or jump to:

• The United Nations' concluding statement
• A full transcript of the co-chairs' statements
• Justine Greening's blog on the role of business
• Day-by-day coverage of the meetings on Storify
• The online consultation – have your say by 7 November

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02 NOVEMBER 2012 - LONDON, UK

Today the UN panel hears from young campaigners, charities and businesses, setting out their priorities to beat poverty from 2015.

Watch the town hall meeting with panellists and participants as it happened below.

 

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01 NOVEMBER 2012 - LONDON, UK

David Cameron is co-chairing the UN High Level Panel on the post-2015 development agenda to explore the best ways to fight poverty.

 

Panel co-chairs: Indonesian President Yudhoyono, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf. Picture: Patrick Tsui/Foreign Office

Today's talks will address what should replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire in 2015.

Visit the Number 10 website for more information on today's meeting

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31 OCTOBER 2012 - LONDON, UK

Today International Development Secretary Justine Greening opens key talks to help shape the future of international development.

Podcast: Listen to Ms Greening speak about the future of development

 

London is hosting the discussions this week as the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel (HLP) meets to consider what should replace the Millennium Development Goals when they expire in 2015.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said:

"The High Level Panel’s work will be vitally important to shape the future of
development.

"The focus of those meeting in London will be the individual and household
poverty. It is only right that we put this at the heart of any new development agenda so we can shape a better future for everyone, wherever they are born."

The HLP held its first meeting at the end of September 2012 in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but this is the first of three discussions on poverty eradication to be hosted in the countries of the HLP’s three co-chairs – the British Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Sirleaf and Indonesian President Yudhoyono.

This week the HLP panellists will have the opportunity to engage with leading international experts on development to consider how key issues including justice, transparency and accountability could be addressed in a new international framework.

This meeting of the Panel in London will last three days and is an opportunity to listen and discuss key issues and views.

• 31 October will be a day of seminars for panel members to engage with leading international experts and discuss how a new international framework could drive poverty eradication. It will focus on issues such as transparency, access to justice and personal security, which are key to lead to sustained prosperity.
• 1 November will be a full day of discussions among panel members of issues related to individual and household level poverty, including a particular focus on human development including jobs and livelihoods.
• 2 November stakeholders from civil society, youth and the private sector will be able to engage panellists to set out their views on what key issues should be prioritised in a new development framework.

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Background information

The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed the High Level Panel (HLP) on 31 July 2012 to develop 'a bold vision to advise on global development after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015.'

The HLP will present recommendations to the Secretary General of what could feature in a new development agenda to reduce poverty in the years ahead.

The final talks of the HLP will be held in Bali in March 2013 with a focus on global partnerships, before it reconvenes to present its findings in New York in May.