Taking Stock of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
from The Internationalist and International Institutions and Global Governance Program

Taking Stock of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

This week, representatives from UN member states meet to discuss progress on six goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  
Then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the Annual Conference of Swiss Development Cooperation in Zurich, Switzerland, on January 22, 2016.
Then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the Annual Conference of Swiss Development Cooperation in Zurich, Switzerland, on January 22, 2016. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

In my weekly column for World Politics Review, I survey the issues under discussion at this week's UN High Level Political Forum and discuss the challenges of meeting the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Four years ago, to great fanfare, UN member states endorsed a sweeping blueprint for human progress known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Intended to guide global development efforts through 2030, the seventeen SDGs are ambitious in the extreme. They range from eliminating extreme poverty—everywhere—to ensuring human health at all ages. Collectively, the goals are backed by a whopping 169 targets, each with various indicators. In September, world leaders will gather in New York for a quadrennial SDG summit to answer the question former mayor Ed Koch used to ask his constituents: “So, how am I doing?” 

More on:

Sustainable Development Goals (UN)

Global Governance

Development

Labor and Employment

Education

A preview comes this week, when the United Nations hosts its annual High Level Political Forum on the 2030 Agenda.

Read the full World Politics Review article here.

More on:

Sustainable Development Goals (UN)

Global Governance

Development

Labor and Employment

Education

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