“World leaders have an unprecedented opportunity this year to shift the world onto a path
of inclusive, sustainable and resilient development” – Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
The Sustainable Development Goals, otherwise known as the Global Goals, build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. The MDGs, adopted in 2000, aimed at an array of issues that included slashing poverty, hunger, disease, gender inequality, and access to water and sanitation. Enormous progress has been made on the MDGs, showing the value of a unifying agenda underpinned by goals and targets. Despite this success, the indignity of poverty has not been ended for all.
The new SDGs, and the broader sustainability agenda, go much further than the MDGs, addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people.
UNDP Administrator Helen Clark noted: “This agreement marks an important milestone in putting our world on an inclusive and sustainable course. If we all work together, we have a chance of meeting citizens’ aspirations for peace, prosperity, and wellbeing, and to preserve our planet.”
The Sustainable Development Goals will now finish the job of the MDGs, and ensure that no one is left behind.
What is CCRD and UNDP’s role with the Sustainable Development Goals?
All 17 Sustainable Development Goals are connected to UNDP’s Strategic Plan focus areas: sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience. SDGs Number 1 on poverty, Number 10 on inequality and Number 16 on governance are particularly central to UNDP’s current work and long-term plans.
Having an integrated approach to supporting progress across the multiple goals is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, CCRD and UNDP is uniquely placed to support that process.