<br><span class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Kyung-wha Kang and Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi</b> <a href="mailto:multiple.contributors@undp.org">multiple.contributors@undp.org</a><br><br></span>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a name="1292870c4c5bbb02_English"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> LAUNCH of e-Discussion:</span></b></a><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Practical examples and policies in furthering human rights and the MDGs</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><b>14 June to 9 July 2010</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">Dear colleagues,</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB" style="COLOR: black">We are pleased to announce the launch of the <b>e-Discussion: Practical examples and policies in furthering human rights and the MDGs</b>. The e-Discussion will run from <b>14 June to 9 July 2010</b> and will be hosted jointly by the UN Human Rights Policy network (HuriTALK) and the UNDG Millennium Development Goals network (MDG-net).</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">At the Millennium Summit held in September 2000, the world leaders placed development at the heart of the global agenda by adopting the Millennium Declaration which included the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as a set of clear and time-bound targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The Millennium Declaration also contains important commitments on human rights which provide the normative basis for the realization of the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals. The 2005 World Summit Outcome reaffirmed that peace and security, development and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Human rights norms, principles and mechanisms are instrumentally critical in empowering people and strengthening accountability of all actors in achieving poverty reduction. At the same time, poverty reduction is critical in advancing civil and political rights, economic and social rights and human security. Therefore, efforts to achieve the MDGs need to be placed within the broader human rights and development framework. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">2010 represents a critical juncture toward achievement of the MDGs. With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, the Secretary-General has called for the adoption of a global action agenda for accelerating progress towards the Goals, when world leaders meet at a UN Summit in New York in September. <i></i></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The Report of the Secretary General ‘<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/sgreport_draft.pdf" target="_blank">Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015’</a> presents information on progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals through a comprehensive review of successes, best practices and lessons learned, obstacles and gaps, and challenges and opportunities, leading to concrete strategies for action. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">‘Keeping the promise’ highlights challenges in achieving development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals including addressing the ‘special needs of the most vulnerable and the large and increasing inequalities in various economic and social dimensions, including geography, sex, age, disability, ethnicity and other vulnerabilities’ (para 47). It has also recognized that ‘inequality and social exclusion limit the contribution of growth to the Millennium Development Goals [and] must be addressed. Inequalities of access, social protection and opportunities need to be greatly reduced (para. 52)’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The e-Discussion will allow colleagues to share their practical experiences and knowledge (including innovative practices, lessons learned, implementation bottlenecks and enabling strategies) in addressing many of these issues from human rights perspectives, specifically: </p>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Symbol"><span>·<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span>Addressing the special needs of the most vulnerable; </p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Symbol"><span>·<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span>Addressing social exclusion and inequality; </p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Symbol"><span>·<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span>Monitoring of progress and enhanced accountability toward achieving the MDGs; and,</p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Symbol"><span>·<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span>Reflections on how the MDG framework and efforts to accelerate the MDGs be utilized beneficially toward the realization of human rights. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The UNDG made a significant commitment to further the mainstreaming of human rights in our development work, by establishing a dedicated UNDG Human Rights Mainstreaming Mechanism (UNDG-HRM) which we co-chair. Knowledge sharing is one of the priorities of the UNDG-HRM and we thus encourage colleagues and network members to participate in furthering human rights and the MDGs in this e-Discussion. The conclusions and good practices will be shared with the UNDG and the knowledge networks and available on the <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.hrbaportal.org/" target="_blank">UN HRBA Practitioner’s Portal</a>.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Sincerely,</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Kyung-wha Kang</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chair, UNDG Human Rights Mainstreaming Mechanism</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Director, Democratic Governance Group, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Vice-Chair, UNDG Human Rights Mainstreaming Mechanism</p>
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