Global development goals: Sagarika Dutt reviews discussion about the post-2015 development agenda in a recent publication.

• Author: Dutt, Sagarika
• Position: Global Development Goals: Partnerships for Progress - Book review

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS: Partnerships for Progress

United Nations Association of the United

Kingdom, London, 2014, 163pp.

The second edition of Global Development Goals was published by the United Nations Association of the United Kingdom as a contribution to the discussions about the post-2015 development agenda that led to the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the United Nations in September 2015. It may be recalled that in 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration, which included the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to be achieved by 2015. The goals centred on poverty, health, education and the environment and were, to a large extent, shaped by the UN conferences of the 1990s. As Jan Eliasson, UN deputy secretary-general, points out in his foreword, A new transformative agenda',

the world has succeeded in halving extreme poverty, thanks in large part to economic advances in the developing world, particularly in Asia ... yet, with the 2015 deadline approaching, much more must be done, especially in and for the poorest countries and those mired in conflict. We are counting on Member States, civil society, the private sector and other partners to redouble their efforts in the time that remains. But it is also a time for stocktaking and building on the lessons learnt from the Millennium Development Goals, and setting new goals for the international community. For this purpose, an Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals was appointed by the UN General Assembly, as mandated by the 2012 Rio Conference. It completed its report in July 2014 on the shape of the post-2015 agenda. Helen Clark, UNDP's administrator, writes in her foreword, 'Delivering on bold ambitions for equity and sustainability', that 'the report represents a welcome recognition of the need to address the drivers of long-term development. If the cycle of major humanitarian crises is to be broken, more peaceful, cohesive, and resilient nations that can sustain development progress need to be built'.

As the UNDP has a good track record of assisting UN member states, her views on sustainable development are invaluable. She believes that the inter-related goals of development, peace, stability and prosperity can be achieved throughout the world provided an investment is made by states and their governments in improving governance and creating a just society. To prove her point, she asserts that with UNDP assistance many countries are expanding access to justice; establishing more effective institutions; conducting fair and transparent elections; promoting open dialogue with civil society; strengthening parliaments; and meeting their human rights...