EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTION PROCESS (2014-2016) Webinar with Candidates – NOTES (27 January 2014) Participants 



Candidates: Ana Alcalde (Alianza por la Solidaridad, Spain), Dominic Haslam (Sightsavers, UK), John Kaganga (KEA, Uganda), Hamong Santono (INFID, Indonesia), Neva Frecheville (CAFOD, UK), Kate Dooley (Save the Children UK) , Maria Jose Garcia Manzano (World Youth Alliance, USA) , Victoria Forsgate (Restless Development, UK), Lindsay Coates (Interaction, USA), Ahmed Swapan (VOICE, Bangladesh), Miguel Santibañez (MESA, Chile), Philipp Schonrock (CEPEI, Colombia), Zia Ur Rehman (AWAZ, Pakistan) Participants: Alison Baroi, Tom Palmer (Leonard Cheshire Disability, UK), Hanna Hansson (Concord Sweden), Viviane Castro (MESA, Chile), Nicolas Sautejeau (MESA, Chile), Mwangi Waituru (The Seed Institute, Kenya), Mohamed Sheikh , Jen Williams (UWASNET, Uganda)

Presentations by candidates (2 minutes each) Ana Alcalde (Alianza por la Solidaridad) Experience as Southern European CSO working with much more demanding citizens, under a lot of pressure to become more political, more participative, and more innovative in explaining to citizens what’s going on. Key topic: inequalities, a topic which breaks the N/S divide. Also working to build alliances with other players fighting for social justice. Alianza por la Solidaridad could bring to the table their alliances with Latin America and African partners, contribute to Beyond 2015’s communication and mobilization efforts, and support a dialogue with innovative communication tools. Alianza por la Solidaridad is also member of the board of CONCORD and GCAP and has experience in the Open Forum and Better Aid processes. Dom Haslam (Sightsavers) Sightsavers has 3 year experience at the Beyond 2015 Executive Committee, is involved at the national level in Beyond 2015’s National Hub in the UK, is leading the campaign’s VPVC process, supported fundraising efforts of Beyond 2015, and working with Bond on a campaign assessment for Beyond 2015. Sightsavers works mainly on equality and equity with a particular focus on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Post-2015 framework. Sightsavers also plays a role ensuring representation of disability organisations in meetings such as the HLP in London and the OWG. Sightsavers also focuses on access to education and health, has a broad experience on campaigning, a solid expertise on social inclusion and rights, and would bring a strong connection with the disability constituency.

Ahmed Swapan (VOICE, Bangladesh) Experience as an Executive Committee member of Beyond 2015. Strong alliance with national and international NGOs, and member of other networks (often being part of their boards). VOICE would bring their commitment to sharing their experience as a former Executive Committee member. Kaganga John (Kikandwa Environmental Association, KEA, Uganda) Kaganga John is a small-scale farmer directing a small organization of 500 farmers. He’s been in charge of overseeing the MDG progress since 2000 and has broad experience on how to translate the MDGs into practical initiatives and actions at the local level. KEA has also experience in the Rio+20 process and would bring their experience working grassroots organisation. Hamong Santono (INFID, Indonesia) Experience with Beyond 2015 at the national level and engagement in the HLP meetings of Bali, Monrovia and London. INFID is working to get Post-2015 discussions higher on the national agenda. INFID could bring to Beyond 2015 Executive Committee the experience of Southern countries and their experience on topics such as inequalities or illicit flows. Neva Frecheville (CAFOD, UK) One of the founding members of the campaign, co-chair since 2010, contributor to all the campaign’s process but would stress their engagement with the HLP, the OWG and their work on the values of the campaign. CAFOD has partnerships in 40 countries and works with the most marginalized to bring their voices to the debate. CAFOD focuses on bringing climate more strongly into the Post-2015 agenda, improving energy access (priority to people living in poverty) and participation of the poorest in the design, implementation and monitoring of the Post-2015 agenda. CAFOD has been leading since 2010 and now is looking for partnership. Kate Dooley (Save the Children UK) Save the Children has been a member of the Beyond 2015 Executive Committee for the last 3 years, has led the Beyond 2015 UN Working Group, has supported the campaign’s engagement in UN processes thanks to their offices in NY, and has supported Beyond 2015 discussions on strategy and advocacy. Save the Children is present in 120 countries, and 30-50 of these national offices are working on Post-2015. This gives them a large network they can mobilise and a lot of sources of intelligence they can share with the campaign. Save the Children focuses on inequalities, governance, accountability and participation and finishing the job of the MDGs. Save the Children can bring to the campaign political connections, strategic advice, a strong sense of collaboration to develop debate at the national level. Save the Children also brings resources. Save has chaired the Beyond 2015 European Task Force, has been in the Executive Committee of the Beyond 2015 UK hub, and other working groups. Maria Jose Garcia Manzano (World Youth Alliance, USA) WYA is present in Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the USA. WYA became involved in Beyond 2015 on Sept 2012.Working on education, maternal health, and reproductive health.

WYA was very involved in the drafting of positions on child rights. WYA has strong connections in the UN and in the European Parliament. WYA would be able to share knowledge from their regional offices and share Beyond 2015’s messages using their contacts. Victoria Forsgate (Restless Development, UK) Restless Development has been engaged with Beyond 2015 since early 2012, organising national youth consultations, youth-led participatory research, and the facilitation of round tables in the HLP meetings. Restless Development cofounded the Beyond 2015 Children and Youth WG and are a member of the steering committee of Beyond 2015’s UK Hub. Restless Development would work on access to youth networks and the hundreds of their youth organisations partners working at the national level. They could bring their contacts in the UN and partnerships with some States. Restless Development could bring innovative thinking and ideas, and 25 years of experience on the ground, creativity and a fresh approach. Their main expertise is on youth but their topics are cross-cutting. They work on monitoring progress, hold governments accountable and could play a role in connecting Beyond 2015 with the organisations at the national level which are working on this though not necessarily through B15. Lindsey Coates (InterAction, USA) InterAction has a very strong interface with the US government which could be advantageous to Beyond 2015. InterAction has access to US NGOs to align their voices and is active in a number of networks (board member of IFP and CIVICUS; working group on G20 and was very active on Busan). InterAction’s MDG taskforce is a powerful mechanism uniting a diverse constituency to align their voices on three key points: peacebuilding, data (as a mechanism to address universality and tackle inequalities), and aligning the post-MDGs and the SDGs. The US Government is very open to listen and InterAction could facilitate these conversations. Philipp Schonrock (CEPEI, Colombia) CEPEI is working on Sustainable Development and Aid Effectiveness. Experience on Post 2015 is based on the strong engagement of Colombia in HLP. CEPEI is one of the three organizing partners of the NGO Major Group, has been working on the VPVC and has been involved in most of the major Beyond 2015 processes. CEPEI focuses its work on the needs of MICs, South-South Cooperation, horizontal implementation mechanisms, data revolution (on creating indicators) and a multi-stakeholder community of practice working with parliamentarians. Miguel Santibáñez (MESA, Chile) MESA brings together national platforms and thematic networks active in Latin America and the Caribbean. MESA is working to ensure the Post-2015 process is participatory and open and that the framework is based on the messages people have voiced. MESA has been involved in the debates around Aid Effectiveness, is a member of the IFP and the World Social Forum. All Mesa’s national platforms and thematic networks have actively engaged in the UN consultations, and are active in the political field, focusing on political, social and cultural inequalities and public and common goods. MESA works in a strong alliance with social movements and networks. MESA has been the Beyond 2015

regional coordinator for Latin America since 2012. MESA wants to work on the HRBA and its link/relation to the economic model. Zia Ur Rehman (AWAZ, Pakistan) AWAZ is leading GCAP’s work at the national level in Pakistan and at the South Asian regional level. AWAZ is member of the global council of GCAP, was Beyond 2015’s National Hub in Pakistan in 2012, and is accredited to ECOSOC. AWAZ could help connect the local voices with the global level and also help connect global players (B15, GCAP,…). Questions to candidates Candidates were split into three groups, and questions were taken in groups of three. Candidates were then invited to respond to any of the questions. 1. How would involve the top management of your organisation in the work of the campaign, speak on behalf of B15?) -

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Ana Alcalde (Alianza por la Solidaridad): We can bring key CEOs of Spanish CSOs, also build connections with CSOs Kate (Save the Children): This is challenging sometimes, but one of the solutions we’re working on is to involve CEOs at the national level (country leaders). This helps focus discussions and ensures that we engage the CEOs in the key high level moments Dom (Sightsavers): The CEO of Sightsavers is prepared to speak on behalf of Beyond 2015 when required.

How would your organisation help make a more unified and broader campaign? -

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Ana Alcalde (Alianza por la Solidaridad): Need to build a general narrative which is shared and provide examples of normal lives that are relevant to the lives of ordinary people. Dom Haslam (Sightsavers): Focus on VPVC (http://www.beyond2015.org/content-discussion) to develop much stronger and clearer messages. Sectorial networks can help bring more organisations. 4 networks have supported Sightsaver’s candidature and is it up to me to make sure they are activated. Neva Frecheville (CAFOD): different approaches - building on the VPVC and using it to develop campaign positions we can rally around; having regional coordinators will give us better coordination between regions. Maria Jose Garcia Manzano (WYA): The Ex Com should strengthen the regional hubs and also try to reach more to national hubs (experience they have). Currently based in NY, since 2004 representation at the UN. If B15 can come up with a content position which is acceptable to a broad constituency, they’ll be happy to use them for their position at the UN.

(Direct question to KEA): what are KEA’s concrete strategies to bring its grassroots experience to Beyond 2015’s Executive Committee? -

Kakanga John (KEA): lots of experience in lobbying and advocacy, KEA was involved on a campaign on climate change.

What needs to improve in B15 to strengthen the movement and what can you contribute? -

Philipp (CEPEI): Decision taking needs to improve to strengthen Beyond 2015’s advocacy (need to be able to push messages in timely manner).

How can candidates guarantee that they’ll be able to devote the time necessary to contribute to the work the ToR envisages (4 days per month). -

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Victoria (Restless Development): experience in working on similar campaigns and coalitions. Important to have very clear mandates and tasks to ensure you can contribute to what you can add more value. Lindsey (InterAction): Top three priorities for her 2014 work plan. InterAction board has made this a priority for their work for the next 3 years. Philipp (CEPEI): Beyond 2015 is a priority and one of the main working streams in CEPEI. Have recruited one person to support the director to work on post-2015.

How could you help the campaign mobilize resources from donors? -

Victoria (Restless Development): Using “opportunistic approach” cooperating with other partners/UN agencies/etc… to facilitate processes can unblock funds. Lindsey (InterAction): InterAction could open some doors on the fundraising front. Philipp (CEPEI): The Colombian government was one of the few countries sending a supporting message for donors. This is an example that could be replicated. Kaganga (KEA): use all connections to fundraise and allow meaningful participation from those with fewer resources.

Which three global players should we target to ensure they support B15 in order to make a more successful campaign? -

Neva (CAFOD): The President of Brazil and the Pope would be extremely powerful allies.

B15 has been successful raising the post-2015 agenda but as we move to the political phase, how would you strengthen the campaign? -

Ahmed (VOICE): Need to engage the people on the street (make the linkage from the ground and the UN). The challenge is to synthesise these messages and give feedback to people.

What specific area of B2015’s work would your organisation be interested in leading on? -

Miguel (MESA): Mesa is committed to step up its involvement and that of its national platforms in B15. Interested in providing leadership in its work on inequalities.

Where have we been successful and which is a basis for becoming even stronger. -

Ahmed (VOICE): engaging with CSOs and key stakeholders has got B15 trust that can be used. One important task of the new Ex Com should be influencing governments.

What were the main challenges for the previous Ex Com? -

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Mwangi (Southern Co-chair): o Challenges: representations of top CEOs, ability to mobilize the necessary resources, need to be able to follow the discussions in the Ex Com and the ongoing conversation out there. o Strengths: Must Haves, engagement with the UN, engaging with the HLP, VPVC… Neva (Northern Co-chair): Amina Mohammad is very supportive but we also need explicit support of UNSG. Still, this is a member state led process so we need to get more active at the national level and focus maybe on some key players (like Brazil in LAC or the Pope). Our strength -but also an area that we need to keep at the core of what we’re doing- is the dialogue with and the representation of those most marginalized.

Next steps 1. From 3 February (09 00 CET) until 9 February (23 59 CET), the campaign is asked to vote electronically on the candidates. See http://www.beyond2015.org/cast-your-vote Please Remember: For your vote to be valid... 1. Your organisation must be officially part of Beyond 2015 2. You need to vote for your top 6 Southern candidates and your top 6 Northern candidates (i.e. your organisation can vote for up to 12 candidates) 3. Your organisation can vote only once (ie. two individuals from the same organisation cannot vote). 4. You need to base your vote on the selection criteria Your vote is confidential and only available to the Beyond 2015 International Secretariat.

2. W/c 10 Feb: The selection committee will confirm the Executive Committee members based on the election results and the selection criteria outlined below. 3. Mid-February: New Executive Committee will be announced