|
Post
2015 Text
Adopted,
Without SIDS
or Age or
Migrants
Rights
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 2 --
After multiple
postponements
and back-room
deals, the
Post-2015
development
agenda was
declared
"officially
adopted" or
agreed to at
6:25 pm on
Sunday, with
the Group of
77 and China
asking for a
later
"technical
change" to
included Small
Island
Developing
States.
The US
joined
consensus
while saying
it would later
raised issues
it left
unspecified.
The
Permanent
Representative
of Benin, who
early Saturday
morning lashed
out at the
document and
process for
selling out the
Least
Developed
Countries, now
said he liked
the document.
Sudan
for the Arab
Group joined
consensus; as
Inner City
Press reported
on Saturday,
the main
Sudanese focus
was to ensure
that criticism
of unilateral
sanctions
remained in
the text (it
did).
Bangladesh's
Permanent
Representative
Monem, to his
credit,
questioned the
omission of
migrants from
Paragraph 19
(see below).
Mexico joined
in this criticism.
Who speaks for
age? Why was
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon not
present,
represented by
his chief of
staff?
Human rights
for migrants
and by age
were dropped
from the
"final, final"
draft
Post-2015
development
agenda text
released at 2
am on Sunday,
to be debated
or even
gaveled and
approved at 11
am Sunday.
Among
many most
involved in
the process
there was an
outcry, even
after the
bland logic
for the
omission
emerged: to
stick to
"previously
agreed
language." If
that's all
that's being
done, sticking
with the past,
why do it?
Inner
City Press,
which
previously
covered the
omission of
debt
sustainability
language, got
replies from
various
Permanent
Representatives
including some
who watched
Shakespeare in
the Park
-- New York's
Central Park
-- on Saturday
night.
At the same
time, #RacingExtinction
projected
images of
vanishing
species onto
the Empire
State
Building,
including Cecil
the Lion.
@InnerCityPress
Periscope
video here for
next 12 hours.
Some
asked, Where
is Ban Ki-moon,
the UN
Secretary
General whom
one can
imagine
bragging about
the text when
he holds a
photo op with
US President
Barack Obama
on August 4?
He or his
spokesman invited
only friendly
correspondents
to cover that
"gaggle," at
which these
questions will
almost
certainly not
be asked.
Back on
July 31 - August
1, already past
the deadline
for the
Post-2015
development
agenda text,
Kenyan
Ambassador to
the UN
Macharia Kamau
kicked off
what was
support to be
the past
session,
saying it
would take a
couple of
hours.
South Africa
for G77 began,
saying for
example that
debt
sustainability
should go back
in. The
Maldives for
AOSIS and
Belize for
CARICOM also
spoke for
re-inclusion.
The European
Union
followed,
calling for
the deletion
of Paragraph
44 saying the
International
Monetary Fund
should
“respect the
policy space
of each
country.”
Benin upset
the apple
cart, for the
Least
Developed
Countries,
saying that
the LDCs were
being sold
out,
through-out
the UN system.
Ambassador
Kamau stayed
cool, joking
“what would I
do without
you?” There is
not enough
laughter at
the UN.
Before
the session
started, Inner
City Press
spoke with
some who
stayed to
defend
Paragraph 29
against
unilateral
economic
measures --
sanctions --
and others
opposed (and
others for)
Paragraph 33
on foreign
occupation.
Could this
deal be
reached? Watch
this site.
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Click
for
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN
Corruption
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest service,
and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2015 Inner City Press,
Inc. To request reprint or other permission,
e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
|
, 
