Development Cooperation Forum: Third High-Level Symposium

Group of delegates

Development Cooperation Forum delegates. Photo: AusAID

Close to 100 delegates from donor and developing countries, United Nations agencies, parliamentarians, academia, business and non-government organisations gathered in Brisbane in May, for the Third High-Level Symposium on Development Cooperation.

Co-hosted by the Australian Government and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the two-day Symposium focused on the connection between development cooperation and sustainable development.

This Symposium formed part of the preparations for the 2012 United Nations Development Cooperation Forum [external website], being held in New York on 5-6 July. The Forum is a multi-stakeholder body convened by the UN Economic and Social Council to review trends and progress in international development cooperation and promote greater coherence in international development.

Building on the recommendations of the United Nations High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability report [external website], the Symposium:

  • discussed the implications of giving greater priority to sustainable development in development cooperation
  • recommended concrete priority actions to ensure development cooperation supports sustainable development while also advancing the MDGs.

The outcomes of the Symposium and the Forum will feed into discussions regarding the post-2015 UN development agenda. Previous symposia were held in Mali and Luxembourg in May and October 2011, and all three hosts will present the outcomes of their meetings at the Forum in July.

More information

Third High-Level Symposium: Key Messages

Shaping a sustainable future: partners in development

Speech to Symposium

Mark Dreyfus, Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency:
Speech at the United Nations High-Level Symposium, 14 May 2012

Sustainable development factsheets

Related links [external websites]

Last reviewed: 4 April, 2012