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Global Social Observatory
Proposal for the Development of a Platform
on Multi-stakeholder Partnerships
to Address 2015 Challenges and Opportunities
May 2015
www.gsogeneva.ch
Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
Proposal for the Development of a Platform
on Multi-stakeholder Partnerships
to Address 2015 Challenges and Opportunities
May 2015
Abstract: The Global Social Observatory proposes to implement a participatory process in association
with the United Nations Office at Geneva to develop a Geneva-based platform for multi-sectoral and
multi-stakeholder partnerships to respond to the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Paris
Climate Change Summit. The process will identify and facilitate the formation of cross-cutting
partnerships among the many stakeholders and sectors based in or closely linked to Geneva. It will
contribute ideas and recommendations for a partnering platform and a methodology for multistakeholder partnerships in the implementation phase of these agendas. The project will invite seniorlevel participants from Geneva-based international organizations, diplomatic missions, NGOs,
academic institutions and businesses to provide a leadership role for International Geneva in
addressing these 2015 challenges and opportunities.
Introduction
The GSO delivers a unique contribution to dialogue and partnering on global social and economic
issues. This contribution is characterized by the provision of an open space for multi-sectoral and
multi-stakeholder engagement. The GSO has applied this approach to a preliminary series of dialogues
on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, including the latest event on 8 April 2015 that involved 30
participants from diverse Geneva-based organizations – UN agencies, diplomatic missions, civil society
and business associations. The GSO is encouraged to convene a process for identifying and facilitating
opportunities for collaboration among the diverse actors in the Geneva International Scene and the
formation of cross-cutting partnerships, across sectors and including diverse stakeholders. The
impetus for the series is the challenge of achieving multiple sustainable development goals
simultaneously, when almost every goal requires multi-sectoral engagement and resources from both
public and private sources. The project is intended to focus on selected specific cross-cutting issues,
with the objective of using the GSO space for constructive development and evaluation of how the
perspectives and capacities of different groups can join together through mutual benefit and trust in
building innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships. The projected outcome for the project will be to
present a proposed architecture and operational recommendations for a Geneva-based multistakeholder platform that can itself be put into place to mobilize further cross-cutting and diverse
partnerships.
The GSO Background
The GSO recently completed a two-year project in support of multi-stakeholder alignment in the
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. It is just one example of the kind of cross-cutting and multistakeholder collaboration that the GSO has supported. Other GSO projects have focused on multistakeholder collaboration for action on non-communicable diseases, linking diabetes prevention and
wellness programmes to the workplace, promoting social responsibility initiatives to fight HIV/AIDS,
and facilitating dialogue on trade and labour standards. The GSO mission and experience can be
adapted to providing a setting for multi-stakeholder collaboration to implement cross-cutting
partnerships linking the many goals of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Climate Summit.
www.gsogeneva.ch
Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
The GSO has already convened a series of three roundtable events in April, June and September 2014
to stimulate dialogue and mutual understanding across different sectors and stakeholder groups in
Geneva for promoting cross-cutting linkages and partnering on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
The focus was on the potential for International Geneva to contribute to the interplay among at least
some of the proposed goals and targets on health, food security, employment, and water and
sanitation, as well as the role of trade as a means of implementation. In yet another event, the GSO
sponsored a panel discussion on partnering prospects for one of the other proposed Sustainable
Development Goals, this time the goal on sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Summaries of these events are included in an Annex to this proposal, along with a listing of the lead
discussants for each event. They set the stage for recognizing the possibilities for specific collaborative
initiatives.
Building the Rationale for a Geneva-based Platform
In reviewing the outcomes of these events on the Post-2015 Development Agenda theme and the
emerging debate on means of implementation, the GSO Management Committee concluded that the
time was right for moving from recognizing the potential value of cross-cutting engagement to actually
identifying and acting on specific multi-stakeholder partnering opportunities and overall platform
development. The GSO therefore convened an informal dialogue on 8 April 2015 at the Palais des
Nations in association with Office of the Director-General of the United Nations at Geneva, to define,
promote and facilitate a Geneva-based approach for supporting multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral
initiatives and collaboration related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - and linking them
as well to the outcomes envisioned for the Climate Change Summit. Thirty participants
enthusiastically participated in this interactive dialogue from United Nations agencies, the WTO and
the ITC, NGOs, multi-stakeholder partnerships, academia and diplomatic missions.
The main points made by participants in the dialogue were the following:
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Geneva is an excellent location for establishing a platform for multi-stakeholder initiatives for
achieving the SDGs because of the concentration and diversity of technical expertise in Genevabased international institutions and also because of the strong Swiss federal and Geneva city and
cantonal commitment to the process;
Country level ownership, accountability and responsibility should be integrated into building
alliances that are receptive to multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral partnerships;
There is a need for conducting a process to identify and develop linkages among the SDGs and
also between the SDGs and the outcomes of the Climate Change Summit, emphasizing pragmatic
partnerships that are issue-oriented and outcome-based.
While the discussion was free-ranging and open-ended, there were several clear themes – the unique
strength and support from both the local and national leadership in Geneva and in Switzerland; the
need to establish linkages among the multiplicity of goals and targets in the SDGs, as well as their
interplay with impending climate change commitments; the obstacles in mobilizing the necessary
finance and resources for the SDGs, as well as for Global Public Goods, exemplified in the Financing
for Development process; the particular challenge in implementing the SDGs (and climate-related
commitments) through national accountability, ownership and responsibility while also operating in
the increasingly multi-stakeholder and inter-dependent nature of today’s world; and the advantages
of the complexity and diversity of technical expertise in Geneva-based international organizations.
The GSO is encouraged that there is strong support for developing a broad-based partnering platform,
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Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
based on identifying and developing specific cross-cutting examples to develop a sense of what can
be done to work together, to identify and build on existing partnering experiences, and to stimulate
coherence.
The GSO Proposal
The GSO is proposing to provide an independent forum to focus on the identification of linkages and
of the development of partnering capacities. The project should encompass a stocktaking exercise of
specific examples of successful partnering initiatives and how to take these collaborations to a more
advanced level. It should be supported by a multi-stakeholder steering group to select from among
different issue areas and to engage in critical evaluations of partnering requirements. It should take
into account the transformation that is needed to make explicit linkages among the SDGs and also to
enable them to be responsive to the commitments for climate change.
The GSO proposes to convene a process, in association with the Office of the Director-General for the
United Nations at Geneva, with the objective of identifying and developing the opportunities for multisectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration and action through effective cross-cutting partnerships.
A GSO Steering Committee will be established to contribute to the preparation and implementation
of selected examples. All of the major international organizations, NGOs, business associations and
key local leadership will be invited to designate representatives for the Steering Committee. It will be
open to interested parties as appropriate, including GSO and UNOG and the – from the diplomatic
missions, international organizations and non-state actors who may want to collaborate in the
development of these cross-cutting partnerships. For each selected cross-cutting issue, the GSO
Steering Committee will convene a working dialogue to provide feedback through an inter-active
assessment of the partnering requirements.
a.
Phase One on Mapping
In the first phase of the process, the Steering Committee will help to define a mapping exercise to
identify issue areas and partnership combinations that are especially ripe for Geneva-based multistakeholder and multi-sectoral collaboration. The GSO proposes the development of at least four
cross-cutting issues areas/partnering ideas for consideration by the Steering Committee. It is, of
course, understood that poverty eradication is the primary goal of the SDGs. With that context as a
given, possibilities for partnership development include, for example, linking air pollution to health,
weather management and gender empowerment; or linking green jobs to health, food security and
trade; or linking nutrition to water and sanitation, rural entrepreneurship and agricultural
productivity. There are many possibilities for combining trade and development concerns with
sustainable consumption and production, healthy lifestyles, decent work, intellectual property,
human rights, information and communications technology, and so many other areas of technical
expertise based in Geneva. The concentration and diversity of technical expertise includes UN
agencies, other international organizations, multiple non-state actors in civil society and the private
sector, academia, and diplomatic missions, as well as local, cantonal and federal government of
Switzerland itself.
b.
Phase Two on Working Dialogues
With guidance from the Steering Committee, the GSO will then prepare a basic concept note that
draws on the GSO experiences with trust building, transparency, inclusiveness and accountability for
each of the selected cross-cutting issues areas and prospective multi-stakeholder partnerships. The
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Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
GSO will work with the Steering Committee to identify the scope of the issue and partnering
requirements for building a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder partnership. Background briefing
notes and a set of questions will be provided for review by the Steering Committee prior to the
convening of an interactive working dialogue. Outcomes with action items will be prepared following
each feedback session with the Steering Committee.
c.
Phase Three on Recommendations for a Geneva-based Platform
At the end of the project, the Steering Committee will make recommendations in three areas. First,
the Steering Committee will be asked to recommend a basic methodology or framework for the key
elements of successful multi-stakeholder partnerships, including such elements as mutual benefit and
trust building. Second, the experiences in the preliminary test case studies should contribute to
illustrating the kinds of cross-cutting and multi-stakeholder partnerships that merit further
development. Emphasis will be on the particular skills and capacities that are available for multistakeholder partnership development in the Geneva International Scene. Third, the Steering
Committee will assess the potential and present recommendations for a Geneva-based platform to
serve as a clearinghouse and catalyst for truly transformative partnerships in support of the goals and
targets of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Paris Climate Change Summit.
d.
Next Steps
As a project oriented to the means of implementation for both the Sustainable Development Goals to
be adopted at the Post-2015 Development Agenda Summit in New York in September and the Agenda
of Solutions at the Paris Climate Change Summit in December, the GSO proposes to initiate the first
phases of the project in the coming months. The annual meeting of the GSO General Assembly on
24 June 2015 provides an opportunity for presentation of the GSO approach and lessons learned for
building mutual benefit and trust in multi-stakeholder partnerships. A proposed time line and budget
are available for further discussion and review.
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Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
ANNEX
Key Messages from the
2014 Series of GSO Interactive Dialogues on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Geneva, Switzerland
1. First Event on 24 April 2014, “GSO Open Interactive Dialogue on the Post-2015 Development
Agenda and Goals”.
Moderator: Deborah Vorhies (President, GSO) with lead discussants: David Evans (Director Health
Systems Financing, WHO), Arancha Gonzalez (Executive Director, International Trade Centre), David
Nabarro (Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Global Food Security), Stephen
Pursey (Director Policy Integration, ILO), Guillermo Valles (Director International Trade in Goods and
Services, UNCTAD) and Marc van Ameringen (Executive Director, GAIN).
Participants supported the momentum in sustainable development policy towards inclusiveness and
universality and new ways of thinking about what sustainability means. The key messages were:

The role of economic growth and employment as the foundation for sustainable development
was reinforced, as well as the role of trade as a key enabler.
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But new ways of thinking about what sustainability means were also embraced - about
consumption as well as production, over-nutrition as well as under-nutrition, sustainable
livelihoods through entrepreneurship as well as jobs and decent work, and health for all rather
than disease-specific initiatives.

Participants observed the increasing presence of non-state actors in global policy debates and
called for new mechanisms and trust-building for multi-stakeholder engagement and
partnerships.
2. Second Event on 11 June 2014, “GSO Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on the Post-2015
Development Agenda, the Geneva Perspective”.
Moderator: Katherine Hagen (Executive Director, GSO) with lead discussants: Cécile Molinier (former
head of Geneva Office, UNDP), Constance Thomas (former Director International Programme for the
Elimination of Child Labour, ILO) and Alice Tipping (Director Environmental and Natural Resources
Programme, ICTSD).
Participants once again endorsed the need for the SDGs to look beyond the concept of “good
development” to focus on an agenda for the international community at large. The second roundtable
provided an opportunity to reflect on where a Geneva-based dialogue might create further linkages
among the goals and targets around the following issues of employment, health and food security and
trade as a means of implementation:
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The Geneva-based perspective on employment includes linking the ILO, UNCTAD and others in
supporting the goal on economic growth and employment with the goal on food security for rural
employment and entrepreneurship; with the goal on health for increasing productivity and
healthy lifestyles; with the goal on climate change for supporting growth in green jobs; and with
the importance of human rights for supporting gender empowerment, the rights of migrant
workers and other under-served populations.
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Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
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The food security perspective should take a broader view of agricultural productivity for both food
security and environmental sustainability, including in water use management. It should
incorporate new thinking on sustainable consumption and production patterns, sustainable
livelihoods and the three pillars of under-nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and over-nutrition
for healthy lifestyles.
The health perspective is enhanced by the commitment expressed by the World Health Assembly
that there should be health-related indicators for measuring progress in all relevant dimensions
of sustainable development, with an emphasis on the social, environmental and economic
determinants of health and a dynamic multi-sectoral approach to attaining a healthy life and
ensuring the benefits of healthy living to the attainment of the other SDGs.
The trade perspective incorporates the trade-specific targets in the goal addressing the means of
implementation as well as a wide array of targets with trade implications in the other goals.
Examples include agricultural commodity price volatility, fossil fuel subsidies, fisheries reform
The Geneva Perspective brings a unique combination of technical capacity in the Geneva-based
international organizations, a tradition of multilateral diplomacy and a strong and growing
concentration of non-state actors which offer opportunities for multi-stakeholder coalitions.
Attention should be directed to the management of both trust-building and accountability in
developing these partnerships.
3. Third Event on 19 September 2014, “GSO Roundtable Discussion on Partnering for a Post2015 Development Agenda”.
Moderator: Mireille Quirina (GSO Management Committee Member), with lead discussants Mark
Halle (Executive Director and President IISD International), Cécile Molinier (former Geneva head,
UNDP), and Christoph Stückelberger, CEO Globethics.net).
The first two GSO roundtables on the Post-2015 Development Agenda concentrated on some of the
main issue areas where Geneva is well positioned mobilize cooperative efforts between and among
governments, international organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector. At the
third “GSO Roundtable Discussion on Partnering for a Post-2015 Development Agenda”, the panel and
roundtable discussion raised the following points:
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We are still searching for the right format for multi-stakeholder collaboration;
There are new markets and vibrant civil society organizations, a growing number of stakeholders
and combinations of stakeholders;
We need to find ways of working together across the divides of different communities and give
partnership a real meaning;
The challenge is to create the motivation for people to act positively, by articulating common
values even as we respect the diversity in the world;
With a growing influence of the private sector on the SDGs, it is important to ensure fairness and
inclusiveness, which can also be a procedural issue;
An inclusive and participatory process should recognize the important advocacy role of civil
society and NGOs.
www.gsogeneva.ch
Global Social Observatory
Colloquium Series on 2015 Challenges and Opportunities:
Contributions from the Geneva International Scene
4. Fourth Event on 2 October 2014, “Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and
Trade for Developing Countries in the Post-2015 Development Agenda”.
Moderator: Katherine Hagen, with panelists Thoric Cederström (Senior Manager Agriculture and
Nutrition, GAIN), Beris Gwynne (Director and UN Representative, World Vision International), Chiedu
Osakwe (Director Accessions Division WTO) and Robert Skidmore (Chief Sector Competitiveness, ITC).
The GSO facilitated a dialogue on another proposed SDG – on sustainable consumption and
production – and on how to distinguish between barriers and opportunities for growth-enhancing
trade in the many initiatives currently advancing sustainable consumption and production objectives.
Here are some highlights from the session:

Standards can be a lever for improving the performance of exporters in developing countries, but
standards do raise costs.

There should be comparability and convergence in standards to achieve a common level of
consumer protection. This may call for global standards, but the reality of any market is to have a
regulatory framework that works. So the objective should be to achieve equivalence and interoperability.

In the 1980s and 1990s civil society led efforts to help eradicate poverty. Now governments are
looking to the private sector to do what the NGOs failed to achieve. But we need all three at the
table: government, NGOs, private sector.

There is often an incompatibility between poverty reduction and sustainability standards. Those
that are most marginalized need to have a voice at the table – not as beneficiaries but as decisionmakers in policies that will affect them. How to balance the immediate requirements of survival
with the longer term view of sustainability is a challenge we should all address.

Let us continue to build a consensus that sees the relationship between multilateral trade rules,
domestic regulation, the private sector and civil society action.
Finally, the general consensus among the participating stakeholders is that a human rights approach
needs to be integrated into all sectors of sustainable development to highlight the importance of
combining “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear”. The human rights treaties encompass
both the rights to food security, health, water, education (encompassing the importance of “freedom
from want” and the rights to peaceful societies, personal security, and the fair administration of justice
(encompassing the importance of “freedom from fear”). Inclusiveness and equality, including but not
limited to gender equality are also part of this mainstreaming approach to human rights as part of the
development process.
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