Passage from MDGs to SDGs: A pledge to transform the world

The world has the opportunity to agree on a new global sustainable development framework between September 25 and 27, 2015 during the 70th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)  session in New York. The agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during the 70th UNGA will succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were forged in the year 2000. Countries like Bangladesh have made commendable progress in achieving most of the goals set in MDGs (2000-2015).
However, the eight goals of MDGs somehow overlooked to consider the root causes of poverty, or gender inequality, or the urgency of holistic nature of development. As a result, according to the World Bank measurement of poverty, around 1.0 billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day and some 800 million people still live in hunger. In addition, women are still fighting for their rights, and millions of them still die while giving birth. In this backdrop, the UN member-states are engaged in a discourse for setting a comprehensive development agenda beyond 2015 at the September 2010 MDG Summit, with the end date of the MDGs in sight (2015).
In June 2012 at Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the UN member-states adopted 'The Future We Want' outcome document, which paved the path for the post-2015 development agenda.
STATUS OF POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: The United Nations (UN) member- states are expected to adopt the Post-2015 agenda or Sustainable Development Goals, in September 2015 at the 70th UNGA prior to the end of timeline of MDGs. The groundwork has started in several tracks and levels in light with the agreement and decisions taken in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012. The update of processes en route to adopting post-2015 development agenda are as follows:
RIO+20: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - or Rio+20 - took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 20-22 2012. The SDGs were first formally discussed at the Rio+20 earth summit. It resulted in a focused political outcome document which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development. In Rio, the UN member-states decided to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and converge with the post-2015 development agenda. Governments also decided to establish an intergovernmental process under the General Assembly to prepare options on a strategy for sustainable development financing. They also agreed to establish a high-level political forum for sustainable development.
PANEL OF EMINENT PERSONS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed 27 civil society, private sector, and government leaders from all regions of the world on July 31, 2012 to a High Level Panel (HLP) to advise him on the prospective Post-2015 Development Agenda. On May 30 2013, the HLP on the Post-2015 Development Agenda released a report titled A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development. The report sets out a universal agenda to eradicate extreme poverty from the earth by 2030, and delivers on the promise of sustainable development. In the report, the Panel calls for the new Post-2015 goals to drive five big transformation shifts:
(a) leave no one behind,
(b) put sustainable development at the core,
(c) transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth,
(d) build peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all, and
(e) forge a new global partnership
 POLITICAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) replaced the Commission on Sustainable Development on September 24, 2013 succeeding the outcome document of Rio+20 in order to follow up and review progress in implementing sustainable development commitments. This body meets both under the General Assembly every four years and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in other years with technical, ministerial and high-level segments. It has the mandate to address new and emerging sustainable development challenges and enhance integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
The third meeting of the HLPF under the auspices of the ECOSOC was held from  June 26 to July 8 2015. A key message of the meeting was that implementation of the ambitious and transformative development agenda/SDGs must be started urgently. The forum debated on how communication can accelerate implementation, how to mobilise business and civil society, and how to put finance and technology at the service of sustainable development. The HLPF is expected to conduct national reviews of implementation and thematic reviews of progress in specific areas starting from 2016.
WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: At the Rio+20 conference, 192 UN member-states agreed to establish an intergovernmental working group to design Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a successor of the MDGs. The 30-member Open Working Group (OWG) of the General Assembly was established on January 22, 2013 in order to prepare a proposal on the SDGs. At first, the OWG agreed on the SDGs that the sustainable development goals would provide a holistic framework, applicable to all countries. Taken together, the goals will aim at eradicating poverty and deprivation, but also to grow our economies, to protect our environment and promote peace and good governance for a stable social order.
On July 1,  2014, the OWG forwarded a proposal for the SDGs to the General Assembly. The proposal contained 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable development issues. These included ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.
UN GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS:  For finalising the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the UN conducted a series of 'global conversations', which included 11 thematic and 88 national consultations. The global thematic consultations focused on 11 themes identified by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG): inequalities, health, education, growth and employment, environmental sustainability, governance, conflict and fragility, population dynamics, hunger, food and nutrition security, energy, water. The consultations were organised by UN teams in 88 participating countries. It also launched an online My World survey asking people to prioritise the areas they'd like to see addressed in the goals. A Million Voices: The World We Want, a report prepared with the view from people engaged in 88 national consultations and 11 thematic dialogues was launched on September 10, 2013.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATIONS: The intergovernmental negotiations (IGNs) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda began in January 2015 and continued until July 2015. They reviewed and concluded the sustainable development goals and targets that established a framework for monitoring and review of implementation, the means of implementation, and the nature of a new Global Partnership. On  August 02, 2015, 193 UN member-states agreed on an agenda for the world's sustainable development over the next 15 years that pledges to leave no-one behind. The final version of the draft post-2015 development agenda, titled Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by acclamation at the conclusion of an informal plenary of intergovernmental negotiations. The UN Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda will be held from  September 25-27, 2015 in New York.
Professor Shamsul Alam is Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (GED), Bangladesh Planning Commission. Dr. Alam led the preparation of the Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010-2021, Sixth Five-Year Plan of Bangladesh 2011-2015, National Sustainable Development Strategy 2010-2021, National Social Security Strategy of Bangladesh (2015) and now is leading the preparation of the Seventh Five Year Plan of Bangladesh, 2016-2020 which is at the final stage.
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