Citing the demands of poor, socially excluded and marginalized communities expressed during Field Hearings around the world, IfE President Deborah S. Rogers has called for a stand-alone goal on reducing inequalities, to be included in the new Sustainable Development Goals currently being drafted. Rogers was speaking to the UN’s Open Working Group (OWG), which is the body charged with drafting the SDGs, as one of two civil society speakers elected through a Major Groups process.
On 25 November at UN HQ in New York, IfE’s Rogers presented the OWG with statistics on inequality, poverty, and the inadequacy of economic growth to eradicate poverty. She then showed evidence that the only realistic way to end poverty is through substantially reducing economic inequalities. See her presentation here: Presentation to OWG 5th Session 25 Nov 2013
After Rogers’ remarks, OWG co-chair Ambassador Macharia Kamau asked Rogers to submit IfE’s proposal for draft language for a stand-alone goal to end inequalities. IfE plans to undertake a network-wide consultation soon to adopt the proposed language.