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UNDP Sees Seeds of Opportunity in 2015

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 26 2015 (IPS) - The future of sustainable development has promise — and that promise is now, according to the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“At UNDP, we see 2015 as a huge opportunity to advance the global sustainable development agenda,” said Helen Clark, at the opening session of the UNDP’s Executive Board meeting in New York.

The agenda’s focus is on a new framework for disaster risk reduction, financing for development, and tackling climate change.

Through a series of processes, the international community will come up with post-2015 agenda agreements.

The key upcoming events this year include the Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March in Japan; the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in July in Ethiopia; and the U.N. Climate Change Conference in December in Paris.

“The outcomes of each of these processes will be more powerful if there are synergies between them. It is widely accepted that eradicating poverty, building resilience, and reducing carbon emissions must go hand and hand”, said Clark, pointing out the potential for “a once in a generation opportunity to set a transformational global agenda for sustainable development.”

She mentioned the “agenda is expected to be broader and more transformational than the MDGs were”, referring to the eight Millennium Development Goals.

“The MDGs run their course at the end of the year, and U.N. Member States are due to agree in September on the Sustainable Development Goals, which will guide global development priorities for the next 15 years.”

Sustainable development encompasses the equitable use of natural resources, the protection of the environment, and an accent on social justice and economic growth.

Clark addressed today’s crises, including Ebola, Ukraine, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic, but first and foremost, the four-year crisis in Syria and its impact on Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.

“The fighting has drastically rolled back the country’s human development and pushed over three-quarters of the population into poverty – 4.4 million people are estimated to be living in extreme poverty,” said Clark.

Her statements also revolved around the axis of the UNDP’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, which is committed to “Helping countries to achieve the simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion”.

In this vein, despite the many challenges, 2015 presents a unique opportunity to move ahead on the goal of eradicating poverty.

 
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