"I was fortunate enough to be able to gain a place at the
Interactive Dialogue session in the UN on Fostering sustainable economic growth, transformation and sustainable consumption and production.

When I say ‘fortunate’ I do not take into account the
intricate security manoeuvres

we have to go through to gain admittance. Tickets
were being issued from 7.30am for a session beginning at 10am and of course at
a distance from the UN building. So plot the walk from hotel to ticket to
entrance to UN, calculate likely time to achieve all this and inevitably it
means a very early start with a lot more walking!

Having managed to weave my way once more through the very
tight security barriers, I find we are in the Trusteeship Chamber, another
magnificent room set out in traditional UN horseshoe style well equipped with
screens, microphones and translation units. As with all sessions for this
Global Summit it is being live webcast and you can catch up on the UN webcast
archive.

The session starts with a film demonstrating how economic
growth has taken place in many countries and what others aspire to.  It even mentions the impact of a developed
economy on the environment.

The co-chairs for the session are the Prime Ministers of
Belgium and Bangladesh.

Each introduces the session by highlighting economic  achievements in their countries.  They are then followed by a series of
speakers, usually the President or Prime Minister of the country explaining how
they see they and their Governments will be able to tackle the Sustainable
Goals, mostly related to eradication of poverty, but some also mention education
and use of alternative energies.

I note especially those who mention women – the Foreign
Minister of Australia talks about the economic empowerment of women and the
need to prevent violence against women; Justine Greening, UK Secretary of State
for International Development gives a strong lead on the critical role of women
in contributing to economic growth.  She
outlines UK Government plans for the support of women as entrepreneurs and
business innovators.

Dr Margaret Chan, WHO gives an impassioned plea for increased
investment in health and medical care for women, which she says impacts
throughout the family and community.

Paul Quinn speaking on behalf of NGOs, stresses the need to
transform the paradigm of development, to democratise decision making and to
reorientate production towards the recognition the Mother Earth has limited and
precious resources.

Mark Zuckerberg, inevitably, presses the case for access to
technology. He demonstrates how the internet has played a fundamental part in
development so far, and stresses that it will be key in the future.

And so they continue, speaker after speaker, highlighting
the aspects of economic development most pertinent to their own countries.  There is some overlap but it is difficult see
a pattern across all emerging which could help to focus minds toward the
Sustainable Development Goals.  These
have been set up to be interpreted in the country context and that is exactly
what has happened this morning.

I find the interpretation of the words ’Interactive
Dialogue’ somewhat mystifying. Before sitting through this session I had
expected more of a conversation and exchange of ideas than the set speech
stream which we had. Perhaps it demonstrates how countries do not engage with
each other, but rather remain collared by their ‘sovereignty’.  Perhaps one of the functions of Civil Society
for the coming months is to engage Governments in discussion and demonstrate to
them how engaging in meaningful dialogue with each other could help us to
achieve the SDG targets by 2030".