HIGH-LEVEL PANEL ON POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

• by IPS Correspondents (united nations)
• Tuesday, July 31, 2012
• Inter Press Service

The 22-member advisory panel will have three co-chairs: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia; President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom.

“I have asked my High-level Panel to prepare a bold yet practical development vision to present to Member States next year,” said the UN chief. “I look forward to the Panel’s recommendations on a global post-2015 agenda with shared responsibilities for all countries and with the fight against poverty and sustainable development at its core.”

The Panel will hold its first meeting at the end of September in the margins of the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly.  It is expected to submit a report to the Secretary-General in the first half of 2013.

The Panel is part of the Secretary-General’s post-2015 initiative mandated by the 2010 MDG Summit. Member States have called for open, inclusive consultations involving civil society, the private sector, academia and research institutions from all regions, in addition to the UN system, to advance the development agenda beyond 2015. The following is the list of the 22 members:

 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, Co-Chair;  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia Co-Chair; and  David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Co-Chair.

Fulbert Gero Amoussouga (Benin): Mr. Gero Amoussouga heads the Economic Analysis Unit of the President of the Republic of Benin, current chair of the African Union. He is also the Director of the Graduate School of the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Abomey, where he specialises in research on African economic development.; Vanessa Petrelli Corrêa (Brazil): Ms. Petrelli Corrêa is President of Brazil’s Institute for Applied Economic Research, a public federal foundation linked to the Secretariat for Strategic Studies of the Presidency of Brazil. The Institute conducts research to support the design and implementation of governmental policies and development programs in Brazil, and is responsible for technical coordination of Brazil’s follow-up process for the MDGs.; Yingfan Wang (China): Mr. Yingfan is a current member of the Secretary-General’s MDG Advocacy Group, a group of eminent personalities who have shown outstanding leadership in promoting the implementation of the MDGs. He is a career diplomat. In 1995, he served as Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs until the year 2000, when he became the Permanent Representative of China to the UN in New York. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress.

Maria Angela Holguin (Colombia): Ms. Holguín is the current Foreign Minister of Colombia. Her career spans two decades of activity in the private and public sectors, including senior positions in the Office of the President of the Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Inspector General of the Nation. She previously served as Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations;  Gisela Alonso (Cuba): Ms. Alonso is the current President of the Cuban Agency of Environment. Ms. Alonso has been an active advocate for the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States; Jean-Michel Severino (France): Mr. Severino was the Director General of the French Development Agency. He worked for the French Ministry of Finance and Economy in several capacities, including adviser of the Minister for Development, leader of the Development Ministry’s geographical coordination, and Director of the Ministry’s Development Programs. In the period 1996 – 2000 he was at the World Bank, first as Director for Central Europe, and then Vice-President for Asia.

Horst Kohler (Germany): Mr. Kohler is a former President of the Federal Republic of Germany (2004-2010). He previously served as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Naoto Kan (Japan): Mr. Kan is a former Prime Minister of Japan, Minister of Health and Welfare, and Chairman of Japan’s Foreign Affairs Committee. He is currently an advisor on renewable energy for Japan’s Technical Committee on Renewable Energy. As Prime Minister, Mr. Kan lead Japan’s emergency response to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

Queen Rania of Jordan: Queen Rania Al Abdullah is the wife of H.M. King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. An advocate and a humanitarian, Queen Rania serves as an Eminent Advocate for UNICEF and Honorary Chairperson for the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI). The Jordan River Foundation (JRF) is Queen Rania’s NGO that focuses on the disadvantaged in Jordan; Betty Maina (Kenya): Ms. Maina is the Chief Executive of Kenya’s Association of Manufacturers, one of the country’s leading business associations with some 700 members. Ms. Maina was previously at the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Center for International Private Enterprise, and the Kenya Leadership Institute, among others. She served on Denmark’s Africa Commission and currently sits on various boards in the public sector.

Abhijit Banerjee (India): Mr. Banerjee is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2003, he co-founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Mr. Banerjee is a past president of the Bureau for the Research in the Economic Analysis of Development. His areas of research are development economics and economic theory; Andris Piebalgs (Latvia): Mr. Piebalgs is the current Commissioner for Development for the European Commission. He was previously European Commissioner for Energy (2004-2009), Deputy Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia (2003-2004), Minister of Finance of Latvia (1994-1995) and Minister of Education of Latvia (1990-1993).

Patricia Espinosa (Mexico): Ms. Espinosa is the current Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico. From June 2001 to 2006, she served as Ambassador to Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Germany, and as Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna. Previously, she was Director General of Regional Organizations of the Americas at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs; Paul Polman (Netherlands): Mr. Polman is the Chief Executive Officer of Unilever. Prior to joining Unilever, Mr. Polman was Chief Financial Officer of Nestlé S.A.. He serves as President of the Kilimanjaro Blind trust and Chairman of Perkins International Advisory Board. He is also a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria): Ms. Okonjo-Iweala is the Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to this appointment, she was the Managing Director of World Bank and Foreign Minister of Nigeria. Prior to her ministerial career, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala was Vice-President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group; Elvira Nabiullina (Russian Federation) Ms. Nabiullina is currently the Economic Adviser to Russian President, Vladimir Putin. She is a former Minister of Economic Development and Trade and Deputy Minister of Economy; Graça Machel (South Africa): Ms. Machel is a current member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights which she co-founded with her husband, former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa. She is also a UN independent expert on the impact of armed conflict on children, international advocate for women’s and children's rights, former freedom fighter and Education and Culture Minister of Mozambique.

Sung-Hwan Kim (Republic of Korea): Mr. Kim is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Republic of Korea. He has held a number of ministerial posts including and senior diplomatic posts representing the Republic of Korea to international organizations, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and India; Gunilla Carlsson (Sweden): Ms. Carlsson is the current Minister for International Development Cooperation of Sweden. She has held a number of senior posts in the Swedish Government in the areas of foreign affairs, EU affairs and education and is a former member of the European Parliament.

Emilia Pires (Timor-Leste): Ms. Pires is the Minister of Finance of Timor-Leste. Ms. Pires has a background in development, and senior experience in planning, public finance management, development and aid policies; Kadir Topbas (Turkey): Mr. Topbas is the current Mayor of Istanbul and President of United Cities and Local Governments, and an expert in urban rehabilitation, social transformation and the management of the urban challenges faced by fast-growing cities.

John Podesta (United States of America): Mr. Podesta is Chair of the Center for American Progress. He previously served as Co-Chair of the Obama-Biden Transition and as White House Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton. He served in the president's cabinet and as a principal on the National Security Council; Tawakel Karman (Yemen): Ms. Karman is a young Yemini journalist, human rights activist and politician who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for her role in promoting the “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work" during the 2011 Yemeni uprising; Amina J. Mohammed (ex officio): Ms. Mohammed is the Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning.

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