Asia-Pacific nations chart post-2015 development agenda at Thai forum

BANGKOK, May 19 (Itar-Tass) - Building a sustainable and inclusive development path for the future of the Asia-Pacific region is under negotiation in Thailand as more than 200 representatives from different countries, including Russia, gathered at the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) on May 19-21. This high-level political forum is organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and co-hosted by the Royal Thai Government in the city of Pattaya. “Experts will share regional perspectives and focus attention on global challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region and will transfer the chairman’s summary to New York for further negotiation of the Millennium Development Goals beyond 2015,” a Russian diplomat, representing the interests of the Russian Federation in ESCAP, told Itar-Tass on Monday. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education - were established after the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Declaration sets out within a single framework the key challenges facing humanity at the threshold of the new millennium, outlines a response to these challenges, and establishes concrete measures for judging performance through a set of inter-related commitments, goals and time-bound targets. These cover development, governance, peace, security and human rights, addressing a 2015 deadline known as the Millennium Development Goals. “The Russian delegation will raise our points of interest at the forum in Pattaya,” the diplomat said. “We want to touch upon energy issues alongside problems of noninfectious disease dissemination and road traffic safety.” Highlights of the forum include a high-level roundtable on addressing the challenges of meeting the MDGs, a multi-stakeholder roundtable on integrating sustainable development and a special session on the rule of law. It will be preceded by civil society consultation and a regional dialogue on technology facilitation. ESCAP members note that though the Asia-Pacific region has had considerable success with the millennium goals, particularly in reducing levels of poverty, it is still off-track when it comes to hunger, health and sanitation. Learn more on itar-tass.com