By Blythe Brauer
On 2 June 2015, the co-facilitators of the UN’s Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations released the Zero Draft of the Outcome Document for the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The Outcome Document consists of four sections; the Declaration, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Means of Implementation and Follow-up and Review, all of which set the framework for the UN Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda in September.
WILPF is supporting a campaign led by the World Future Council/International Peace Bureau that demands a reduction in military spending to free up resources for sustainable development. The campaign specifically recommends that the final outcome document of the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa include language on reducing and reallocating military budgets to fund the SDGs. It also recommends the establishment of an expert inter-agency working group, within the context of the UN High-Level Political Forum, to develop a roadmap for realising such a reduction. WILPF also joins with the Post-2015 Women’s Coalition and the Women’s Major Group in demanding strengthened action for gender equality, women's rights, and effective implementation in the final document.
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