Developing nations come together to define a new development agenda

Links to all documents here

The international conference held in Timor-Leste from 25^th  - 28^th February 2013, ended with a resounding call for a new development deal after the MDGs expire in 2015. Much was discussed and debated at the conference in an effort to make development more meaningful and inclusive of the most vulnerable and marginalised. The concept note and background paper for the conference highlight the achievements of the MDG and point out lessons to be learnt in designing the new agenda.

But it was the participation of g7+ countries, not least the hosting of the conference by the youngest democracy —once a conflict ravaged nation itself— was not only symbolic of this new development agenda but also specific in its call for country-owned and country-led goals that mirror national development priorities. Supported and facilitated by the government of Timor-Leste, the Pacific Institute of Public Policy (PiPP), UNESCAP and AusAID, the conference provided a platform for nearly 50 countries to contribute to the Dili Consensus, which will be presented to the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons by the Timor-Leste finance minister Emilia Pires.

Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP (the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) spoke about the experience of Asia and how the country was transformed only a generation ago into what is arguably the engine of the world’s global economic recovery after the financial crisis of 2008.

The conference delegates —numbering 227— were welcomed by Timor-Leste prime minister Xanana Gusmao in a speech that advocated peace and security as necessary preconditions for development. Afghanistan—a late entrant to the global development effort following the 2001 war between the armed forces and the Al Qaeda, sounded a note of caution that global ambitions should not define local agendas. Also, Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto spoke about the post-conflict and post-disaster experiences of Aceh and Nias in Indonesia’s efforts to bring service delivery to the peoples of the two provinces using simple technologies that work best for them.

All the other briefing papers for the conference can be downloaded here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 7th, 2013 at 9:35 am and is filed under Media Release, PiPP News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.