We are happy to announce the launch of an exciting second phase of the World We Want platform (www.worldwewant2015.org). Yesterday, March 6, we launched World We Want “Voices,” which offers the opportunity to add your voice to the Post-2015 agenda in a short, concise, and targeted manner. In the coming weeks we will add additional new functionalities, and a completely revamped experience for World We Want users.

The “Voices” questions currently live on the platform are:

• What would create lasting and positive change in your community?
• What are the most important priorities for the empowerment of women?
• How can world leaders meaningfully address the issue of gender-based violence?
• What is the relationship between gender equality and environmental sustainability?
• World leaders are creating new development goals. What needs to be included?
• What is an acceptable social floor for those living in extreme poverty?
• What would help reduce gender inequalities in the education sector?
• What are the main challenges faced by the world’s youth?

We encourage current World We Want members to begin contributing to World We Want “Voices!” You can respond to every question once in 250 characters or less. In the coming weeks we will begin to display trends and outcomes of these responses. More “voices” questions will be added over time.

We are very excited to begin this second phase and we hope you will take this opportunity to share your views on the issues that matter most to you.

What kind of world do you want? Add your voice to the post-2015 agenda!

VACANCY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Protected Areas Trust Fund (PACT) is an environmental trust fund promoting the sustainable management and development of Belize’s natural resources and protected areas. It is a statutory authority managed by a Board of Directors with the mission of supporting the involvement of large and small organizations in the implementation of environmental conservation projects and programs through a strategic and transparent grant making process.

Position Description:
The Executive Director (ED) is responsible overall for the successful organizational performance of PACT and is expected to provide excellent leadership and management. The incumbent should be a seasoned and talented conservation/development professional and is specifically responsible for guiding the organization to achieving its vision and mission via its current strategic plan, identifying and attracting new sources of conservation funding, ensuring transparent and effective financial management, facilitating optimal staff performance and projecting a strategic and healthy organizational image. The ED reports to the Board of Directors (BOD) and develops technical recommendations where applicable for the improvement of PACT’s financing of protected areas and for the provision, promotion and financing of the natural and cultural resources in Belize.

Professional and Skill Requirements:

• Masters Degree or higher (preferred) or Bachelors Degree (minimum) in Natural Resources Management, Environmental Economics, Finance or other related discipline.
• Should have seven to ten years work experience in protected areas management, conservation and/or development administration. Proven experience in fund raising and administration will be an asset.
• Knowledge of environmental laws of Belize; Knowledge of human resources management; Knowledge of financial management, and Knowledge of project management.
• Leadership and management skills; Excellent analytical skills; Excellent decision making and problem solving skills; Excellent organizational and planning skills; Excellent communication skills, and Advanced level of computing literacy.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) will be an asset.

Remuneration: Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Term: Two Year Contract. Standard three month probationary period applies.

Applications with résumé and two letters of recommendation should be submitted no later than
March 12, 2013 to:
Chairperson
Protected Areas Conservation Trust
#3 Mango Street / P.O. Box 443
Belmopan, Cayo

Re: JOB VACANCY: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The United Nations General Assembly today established the Open Working Group tasked with advancing action towards implementing a Rio+20 recommendation to develop a set of sustainable development goals. (See Press Release GA/11338.)

Comprising 30 countries from the world’s various regions, the Open Working Group will prepare a report proposing sustainable development goals “for consideration and appropriate action” by the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly. Participation in the Open Working Group would be facilitated by an innovative rotational procedure within the regions.

Member States agreed at Rio+20 — the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, last June — that a set of “action-oriented, concise and easy-to-communicate” goals could help drive the implementation of sustainable development. They called on the Assembly to establish a group to help develop the goals. The Rio+20 outcome document, “The Future We Want”, calls for their integration into the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015.

In agreeing to the development of sustainable development goals, Member States recognized that the eight Millennium Development Goals have been useful in focusing efforts on specific aspects of a broad development vision.  They have been instrumental in driving down poverty rates and increasing access to education, health care, water and sanitation, but progress has not been uniform and the United Nations is currently ramping up efforts to help countries achieve the Goals by the target year of 2015.

“‘The Future We Want’ has broadened the scope for global action for people and the planet,” says Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.  “Sustainable development goals that build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, and that apply to all countries, can provide a tremendous boost to efforts to implement sustainable development and help us address issues ranging from reducing poverty and creating jobs to the pressing issues of meeting economic, social and environmental aspirations of all people.”

In December 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolution outlining a series of steps for implementing other aspects of the Rio+20 outcome, including preparations for the establishment of a new high-level political forum; winding down the Commission on Sustainable Development; advancing action on the 10-year programme for promoting more sustainable patterns of consumption and production; and steps towards the development of a sustainable development financing strategy, as well as options for a mechanism to promote the development, transfer and dissemination of clean, environmentally sound technologies.

According to a report of the Secretary-General intended as an initial input for the Open Working Group, 63 countries responded to a questionnaire about the new goals, citing poverty eradication and the sustainable management of natural resources as overarching priority areas. The report says it is “noteworthy” that the key social issues addressed by the Millennium Development Goals are very high on the list, and suggests an intention to keep them “at the heart of the agenda”. At the same time, the prominence of climate change, sustainable management of natural resources and sustainable consumption and production, as well as economic issues like employment and macroeconomic stability, suggests an interest in developing a more effective integration and balancing of the three dimensions of sustainable development, according to the report.

For more information on the sustainable development goals, and Rio+20, visit http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ and www.un.org/futurewewant.

The report of the Secretary-General as an initial input to the Open Working Group can be found at http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1494sgreportsdgs.pdf.

For interviews and more information, contact Dan Shepard, United Nations Department of Public Information, at +1 212 963 9495 or shepard@un.org.

On 09 May 2011 Belize signed on to the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2013, the United Nations (Third Committee) continues a discussion on how to bring the issue of disability into the mainstream of the UN’s development agenda.  This is a hot-button topic at the UN. Amongst other things, the draft resolution presently under discussion “encourages all Member States, concerned intergovernmental organizations, international and regional organizations, civil society, in particular organizations of persons with disabilities, and the private sector to engage in cooperative arrangements and strategic partnerships to facilitate technical cooperation to advance disability – inclusive development.”

For activity in Belize and a way to help with disabilities, click on the following link: http://www.belizeinspirationcenter.org/