'SDG panel to make effort to hear voices of emerging nations'

An expert UN panel appointed to draft the global sustainable development report will make a "special effort" to hear the voices from the Global South and emerging economies, the Secretary General's spokesperson said after India questioned the lack of representation from developing nations.
"...It is clear that all voices will need to be heard in putting together this report. And I'm sure the panel will make a special effort to hear and to listen to some voices from the global South and from emerging economies," UN Secretary General's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said yesterday in response to a question by PTI about the composition of the panel, which does not have adequate representation from developing nations.

Before leaving office, former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed 15eminent scientists and experts to draft the Global Sustainable Development Report.
The experts are from countries such as Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Jordan, South Korea, Switzerland and US but no representation from key emerging countries such as India, China or Russia.
Questioning the composition of the panel, India's Permanent Representative to the UN SyedAkbaruddin had tweeted "Equitable? 10 of the 15 members of @UN panel on Sustainable Development are from 35 member a reference to the high-income economy organisation."
In a separate email to PTI, Dujarric said there are representatives of the global south, including a number of large economies, on the panel, which "will listen to voices from all countries."

Indian diplomatic sources said the question is not about having representatives of the Global South but about imbalance, emphasizing that there are 10 experts from 35 developed countries but only five from 135 developing countries on the panel.

Endah Murniningtyas of Indonesia and Peter Messerli of Switzerland will serve as co-chairs of the group, which will draft the report that is a key component of the mechanism to follow up and review progress on the recently agreed 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
It aims to strengthen the science-policy interface and provide a strong evidence-based instrument to support policymakers in promoting poverty eradication and sustainable development.

The next Global Sustainable Development Report will be published in2019 and will be the first of a quadrennial series that will inform the high-level global reviews of the 2030Agenda at the United Nations in those years.
Earlier, Secretary General's Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haqhad said at the press briefing that the decision on the panel was taken by the Secretary-General in line with the mandates that were given in terms of reporting on this particular topic.
"So, he was following up essentially on the request of Member States. Regarding the specific membership, the effort was made to reach out to people across a variety of regions. I wouldn't have anything further to say about how the different members were chosen," he said.