Leaving No One Behind: are we succeeding?

A central pledge contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to ensure that no one is left behind.

Many people continue to confront barriers that prevent them from fully participating in economic, social and political life. These include women, children, youth, indigenous peoples, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons. They often experience discrimination and exclusion, and as a result, suffer from worse health and education outcomes, face disadvantages in access to the labour market and experience poverty at disproportionately high rates. In every group, women and girls often experience greater disadvantages: reducing gender disparities is essential to leaving no one behind.

The experiences of certain countries show that it is possible to make significant advances towards leaving no one behind in relatively short periods of time. However, current trends do not point to a degree or speed of advance compatible to leaving no one behind within the time frame of the 2030 Agenda, including the trends in poverty (particularly in rural areas and low-income countries in subSaharan Africa), education and housing.

A generalized shift towards a development that leaves no one behind requires the transformation of deeply rooted systems – including some economic and political systems and business models – that are often based on unequal distributions of wealth and decision-making power. And to leave no country behind, international action must be coherent and support, rather than hinder, countries’ capacity to enact and finance their development strategies.

This session will capture the messages from the earlier sessions of the HLPF sessions with a view to synthesize the messages that respond to the challenge of fulfilling the promise of leaving no one behind. By engaging all stakeholders, integrating policies, strengthening global partnerships for sustainable development, and mobilizing the means of implementation needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs will be realized for all.

Proposed guiding questions:

Where are we in terms of achieving the overall objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs for all people?
In which areas is progress most uneven and where are the greatest number of people being left behind?
Who are the furthest behind and are we managing to build the resilience and improve the lives of those people?
What have we learned on how best to improve the lives of the furthest behind?

Chair:

H.E. Ms. Marie Chatardová, President of Economic and Social Council

Keynote speaker:

Mr. Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Moderator:

Mr. Manish Bapna, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, World Resources Institute

Rapporteurs:

Thematic Cluster 1

Mr. Mahi Amadou Deme, Director, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Senegal
Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme

Thematic Cluster 2

Ms. Riitta Oksanen, Deputy Director General, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland
Ms. Alicia Bárcena, Executive-Secretary, ECLAC

Lead discussants:

Ms. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Member, UN Committee on Development Policy, and Professor of International Affairs, The New School
Ms. Victoria Tauli Corpuz UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
Ms. Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
Ms. Sylvia Beales, Strategic Adviser, Gray Panthers (Stakeholder Group on Ageing)

Followed by interactive discussion