Summary of the 16 January Stakeholder Preparatory Forum for the Post-2015 Development Agenda Negotiations
The Stakeholder Preparatory Forum for the post-2015 development agenda negotiations was held on 16 January at UN Headquarters. It was organized by the Stakeholder Steering Committee representing the Major Groups and other stakeholders, facilitated by UN-NGLS and UN DESA-DSD. The Forum brought together approximately 400 participants, including UN Member States, the UN System and stakeholders from civil society and the private sector.
Two months after the 
The UN President of the General Assembly hosted a high-level thematic debate on “Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda” on 9-10 February at UN Headquarters. The debate brought together Member States, parliamentarians, representatives of local and city authorities, UN entities, international financial institutions, regional development banks, the private sector, civil society, academia, and others. The event consisted of an opening plenary with remarks by the President and Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliaisson; two multi-stakeholder panel discussions; and a closing plenary.
On the sidelines of the President of the General Assembly’s High-Level Thematic Debate on 
The 2nd annual United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum will take place from 17-21 May in New York, and interested stakeholders are encouraged to register early (see below). The Forum takes place at an important juncture given the critical work taking place this year in the post-2015 development agenda negotiations, the Financing for Development Conference, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 13-16 July 2015. The 
On 31 December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released his synthesis report on the post-2015 development agenda in all six UN languages. “
The 20-year review of the Beijing Declaration (Beijing+20) will take place during the 
At the request of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), UN-NGLS conducted an open process to obtain nominations for civil society speakers and participants in the official segments of the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which took place 14-18 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan. This process sought nominations for 3 speakers in high-level multi-stakeholder partnership dialogues, and 5 participants in Ministerial round table discussions. Travel funding for a total of 23 civil society representatives was available through this process.
At the request of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, UN-NGLS conducted an open process to obtain nominations for a civil society speaker in the UN event to officially launch the International Decade for People of African Descent, which took place at UN Headquarters on Human Rights Day, 10 December. Dr. Barryl A. Biekman, a Surinamese-born African Diaspora organizer, served as the civil society speaker in the special event. Her statement received a standing ovation in the Trusteeship Council. This article reflects on the key presentations made during the event and presents the overall objectives of the International Decade for People of African Descent.
Against a backdrop of fast growing urbanization in Africa, the 
On 1-3 December 2014, the Palais des Nations in Geneva opened its doors to almost 2,000 participants of the third 
