“The U.N. high-level panel (HLP) working on a global development agenda for after 2015 has reached a turning point through making concrete agreements, the Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said on Wednesday … after a meeting of the panel in the Indonesian resort of Bali,” The Guardian reports. “The third and final set of HLP talks focused on global partnerships between rich and poor countries, which is covered in Millennium Development Goal number eight, one of the least fleshed-out MDGs,” the newspaper notes (Tran, 3/27). “Wrapping up its three-day meeting in Bali, [the HLP] issued a communiqué that highlights key areas that need progress for realizing its post-2015 vision,” the U.N. News Centre writes, adding, “These include reshaped and revitalized global governance and partnerships; protection of the global environment; sustainable production and consumption; strengthened means of implementation; and data availability and better accountability in measuring progress” (3/27).

In a separate article, The Guardian notes “the Institute of Development Studies and the global campaign Beyond 2015 [presented] their participate initiative report,” titled “What Matters Most,” at Wednesday’s meeting. “The study sought to reach the poorest and most marginalized people — those without computers or mobile phones, or who are illiterate — in 40 countries,” according to the newspaper. “The study said participatory development — consulting people on what they want and involving them in projects — is crucial for success,” The Guardian writes, adding, “In one of its key conclusions, the study said priority should be given to ensuring basic needs relating to food, sanitation and land rights as, without these, the poorest cannot get access to services. To reach the poorest, the study added, development policymakers need to focus more on challenging social norms that perpetuate exclusion and also address behavior that undermines community wellbeing, such as open defecation” (Tran, 3/27).