What are the UN sustainable development goals?
At the end of one of the largest
summits at the United Nations headquarters in New York, government
representatives from all over the world will sign a commitment to new global development goals. These will replace the
millennium development goals, setting objectives for bringing peace and
prosperity, and reducing the impact of climate change.
UN member states have agreed on a
list of 17 broad goals and 169 more specific targets. These goals are not
legally binding but they will be important. They are aimed at eradicating
hunger and poverty, while at the same time promoting peace, prosperity, health
and education and combating climate change.
The SDGs come into effect at the end
of 2015, following the completion of the millennium development goals (MDGs),
and cover the period 2016-2030. Unlike the MDGs, which were aimed largely at
poorer countries, the SDGs are designed to be universal. The idea is to involve
the whole world in taking responsibility for development.
It is therefore not surprising which
countries are predicted to meet the goals first. Sweden, according to one report, will lead the pack,
while Norway, Denmark, Finland and Switzerland are likely to be close behind.
Different
from millennium development goals?
The SDGs follow the tradition of the
MDGs, which arose as a product of the consensus built in the United Nations
during the 1990s. However, they cover a much broader range of issues. The
millennium goals only covered “safe” themes such as poverty, primary education
and child mortality.
The SDGS weigh in on more meaty topics, such as
governance, institutions, human rights, inequality, ageing, peace and climate
change.
This is thanks to the huge number of
people who contributed their views on what the goals should be through massive
consultations. Not only governments but also charities have been involved this
time around. In total, more than 7m people have given their views.
So, thanks to contributions from
organisations such as HelpAge International for example, older people
are now explicitly mentioned in the 12 of the 17 goals. And, in a number of
targets, there is a broader commitment that “all indicators should be
disaggregated by sex, age, residence (urban/rural) and other characteristics,
as relevant and possible”. However, they could do more to break the information
down by specific age groups.
Behind the pledges are two broad
ideals: “no one will be left behind” and the aim “to reach the furthest behind
first’. This implies that every individual in the world will benefit from the
rights and opportunities on offer and that the most vulnerable will get the
highest priority in the human development agenda.
These commitments could not come at
a more opportune time – nor the idea that no goal is met unless it is met for
everyone. Billions of people around the world continue to live in poverty, in
societies where inequalities are rising. And it’s clear that people on the
margins – children, the elderly and disabled people – are being affected most
seriously by global health threats, natural disasters, conflict and violence.
That said, not everyone agrees with
the goals. Medical journal The Lancet, for example, describes them as “fairy
tales, dressed in the bureaucrats of intergovernmental narcissism, adorned with
the robes of multilateral paralysis, and poisoned by the acid of nation-state
failure”. And of course, there will be questions about how effective they will
be.
How
will we measure progress?
The SDGs and their targets will be
followed-up and reviewed systematically using a set of global, largely
quantitative, indicators. These will be developed by the specially convened Inter-Agency
Expert Group on SDG Indicators and agreed subsequently by the UN
Statistical Commission as well as the Economic and Social Council and the
General Assembly. Each nation and region will also develop its own indicators.
Most importantly, the statistical
work required at the outset will include specific information on the baselines
for those targets and for many countries the baseline data does not yet exist.
The development of this indicator
framework will be difficult. It must address all the SDGs and all the targets
but it must also be pragmatic about how they will be implemented by national
authorities. The pledge to leave no-one behind would imply the need for more
data and information on different social groups, and in many countries the
existing statistics are currently not suitable for this purpose.
The SDGs give us an unparalleled
opportunity to shape the international and national development agenda that
will have people and their prosperity at their core. The hard work of ensuring
that the SDGs are implemented and deliver on their commitments will test our
commitment to ending the most serious problems we face today.
Professor in International Social Policy, University of Southampton
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