Environment

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A group of independent thinkers from least developed countries believe that their countries can play a critical role in the global sustainability goals

THE least developed countries, LDCs, can play a critical role in ensuring that the new global sustainability goals – which the international community aims to have in place by 2015 — are both fair and effective. For this to happen, the LDCs will need to redefine themselves according to their strengths, improve governance, and promote greater solidarity between themselves and the more developed nations.

These are some of the issues that an independent group of thinkers from the LDCs will share in a new position paper during a series of meetings next week in New York City. The independent expert group members work in research institutes, media, civil society organisations and government agencies in 11 of the LDCs.

The group, supported by the International Institute for Environment and Development, IIED, aims to influence the UN’s efforts to define global sustainable development goals to take effect from 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals expire.

“The Least Developed Countries are in many ways the weakest but they also have strengths such as, their local knowledge and institutions, their culture and values and their resilience to uncertainty. The LDCs can be leaders in the post-2015 process by promoting new forms of international cooperation that enables greater solidarity and sharing of knowledge and responsibilities. They can act to redefine development assistance by working harder to use their national wealth to meet the priorities of the poor and they can do more to share their lessons and experiences of how to measure development and manage environmental resources,” said says Tom Bigg of IIED and coordinator of the group.

Members of the independent experts group will be in New York City from June 24 to 26, to provide input into a series of meetings about the post-2015 development agenda. On June 24, they attended a meeting organised by IIED, the UN Foundation, LDC IV Monitor and the Southern Voices Network. On June 25, they were at an open UN event at which Gyan Acharya, UN Under-Secretary, spoke. On June 25 and 26, they took part in an event organised by the UN Foundation and the Overseas Development Institute.

Essam Yassin Mohammed, a researcher with IIED, and member of the independent expert group adds: “The independent expert group sees solidarity, rather than partnership, as being the key to effective international collaboration in the post-2015 framework as it implies shared interests and responsibilities rather than the outdated donor-recipient relationship.”

— Jul. 8, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

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