Queen Rania selected for UN high-level advisory panel

Her Majesty Queen Rania has been selected as one of 26 members of a high-level panel announced in New York on Tuesday by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Ban has appointed three co-chairs: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and British Prime Minister David Cameron. The high-level panel — half of whose members are women — includes representatives of governments, the private sector, academia, civil society and youth, according to a statement released by Her Majesty’s office. “I have asked my high-level panel to prepare a bold yet practical development vision to present to member states next year,” a UN statement quoted Ban as saying. “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’s first meeting is due to be held at the end of September within the margins of the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly. The panel, which is expected to submit a report in the second quarter of 2013, is part of the UN secretary general’s post-2015 initiative mandated by the 2010 MDG Summit, the UN statement added. 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 work of the panel will reflect new development challenges while also drawing on experience gained in implementing the MDGs, both in terms of results achieved and areas for improvement. The panel’s work will be closely coordinated with that of the intergovernmental working group tasked to design Sustainable Development Goals, agreed at the Rio+20 conference. The reports of both groups will be submitted to member states for their further deliberations, according to the statement. The MDGs were established in 2000 as a set of eight global development objectives that all UN member states and many international organisations, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, agreed to achieve by 2015. The targets are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and promoting a global partnership for development. Panel members •Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of Indonesia (co-chair) •Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia (co-chair) •David Cameron, UK prime minister (co-chair) •Fulbert Gero Amoussouga, head of the Economic Analysis Unit for Benin government •Vanessa Petrelli Correa, president of Brazil’s Institute for Applied Economic Research •Yingfan Wang, former vice foreign minister for China and a current member of the UN Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group •Maria Angela Holguin, Colombian foreign minister •Gisela Alonso, president of the Cuban Agency of Environment •Jean-Michel Severino, former director general of the French Development Agency •Horst Kohler, former president of Germany and former managing director of the International Monetary Fund •Naoto Kan, former prime minister of Japan •Her Majesty Queen Rania •Betty Maina, chief executive of Kenya’s Association of Manufacturers •Abhijit Banerjee, an Indian national and a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US •Andris Piebalgs, development commissioner at the European Commission and former finance minister in Latvia •Patricia Espinosa, Mexican foreign minister •Paul Polman, a Dutch national, chief executive of Unilever and former chief financial officer of Nestle •Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, finance minister for Nigeria and former World Bank managing director •Elvira Nabiullina, Russian president’s economic adviser •Graça Machel, former minister in Mozambique, a current member of The Elders and wife of South Africa’s post-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela •Kim Sung-Hwan, foreign minister for South Korea •Gunilla Carlsson, Sweden’s minister for international development •Emilia Pires, finance minister for East Timor •Kadir Topbas, mayor of Istanbul •John Podesta, chairman of the US Centre for American Progress and former adviser to President Bill Clinton •Tawakel Karman, winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism during the uprising against Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Sale •Amina J. Mohammed, UN secretary general’s special adviser on post-2015 development planning (in ex officio capacity) From jordantimes