Here comes the UN's Sustainable Development Goals

The Headquarters of the United Nations (UN) is an impressive complex. Its buildings are not just the repository of the world’s post-World War II history but also home to a treasure trove of artworks, each of which has a connection with what the UN’s second secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold saw as the reason for the 193-member strong body’s existence: “The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but save humanity from hell”.

The 70th session of the UN General Assembly (GA) opened on September 15 and this week will be one of the most important in recent times because member-states will adopt one of the most ambitious and bold development agendas of our times: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), replacing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expire this year.

The UN has its own share of sceptics and the headquarters is often mocked as ‘Turtle Bay’ (after the locality where it stands) for its bureaucratic ways. Many consider the GA as a stage for leaders to make grand promises from the famous green marble podium that are often forgotten once they reach their home soil. Naturally, many have questioned why the world needs another set of development goals.

There is broad agreement among nations that while the MDGs provided governments a framework around which they could develop policies and aid programmes designed to improve the lives of the poor, they were narrow.  Second, the MDGs failed to consider the root causes of poverty and overlooked the holistic nature of development.

The MDGs made no mention of human rights and did not specifically address economic development. While the MDGs, in theory, applied to all countries, in reality they were considered targets for poor countries. On the flipside, even though the progress of MDGs has been uneven, they influenced development policy formulation and planning globally.

India has witnessed significant progress towards the MDGs, with some targets having been met ahead of the 2015 deadline. However, progress has been inconsistent. Despite an uneven MDG record, India has been in the forefront of the negotiations and the SDGs have a strong Indian fingerprint.

Many feel that the 17 SDGs are unwieldy but the general consensus is that it is better to have goals that tackle the issue of development holistically. The key question is of course, how to fund these goals.

With overseas development assistance coming down to a trickle, the nations will have to raise money from internal sources, from the private sector, through tax reforms, and through a crackdown on illicit financial flows and corruption.

It definitely won’t be an easy task but nations will have to give it their best shot for their own good.

Source: Hindustan Times, 2109-2015

Sep 19 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Education key in proposed goals for post-MDG period

Manash Gohain

New Delhi





UNGA Plans 16 Targets For 2015-30

Acknowledging that quality education is key to sustainable development, a new set of goals for the postMillennium Development Goals (MDG) period has been proposed at the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday .Started in 2000, the MDG period expires in 2015. While many success stories have been scripted, majority of the goals fell short of expectation under the MDG. Previous United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Education for All Global Monitoring Report cited how almost 1 billion people are still likely to be extremely poor in 2015 and 57.8 million children are still out of primary school.
Therefore, the need to provide quality education to the greatest number of people is woven through all the new goals that will be effective from 2015 to 2030. United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon said: “Education is a fundamental right and the basis for progress in every country. Parents need information about health and nutrition if they are to give their children the start in life they deserve.Prosperous countries depend on skilled and educated work ers. The challenges of conquering poverty, combating climate change and achieving truly sustainable development in the coming decades compel us to work together.
With partnership, leadership and wise investments in education, we can transform individual lives, national economies and our world.” Education will be central to the success of the international targets that will replace the MDG. That’s the key point of a new booklet released during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Produced by UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report, the booklet states that new global development targets after 2015 should be based on a holistic approach to sustainable development.
It has set 16 goals starting with poverty reduction, which indicates that education is critical to escape chronic poverty. It stated that one year of education is associated with a 10% increase in wages. Other goals include nutrition improvement with the help of education. If all women had a secondary education, they would know the nutrients that children need, the hygiene rules they should follow and they would have a stronger voice in the home to ensure proper care. Improved nutrition would save more than 12 million children from being stunted — a sign of early childhood malnutrition.
“The evidence is unequivocal: education saves lives and transforms lives, it is the bedrock of sustainability,” says UNESCO director general Irina Bokova, “This is why we must work together across all development areas to make it a universal right.”