#Tell everyone! After three years of open global negotiations and intense consultations, the United Nations general assembly has adopted a new set of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The good news is that these seventeen goals, which build on the better-known millennium development goals (MDGs) that expire at the end of 2015, are much more ambitious and comprehensive.
The eight MDGs were agreed following the United Nations' millennium summit in 2000. They included halving extreme poverty rates and ensuring universal access to primary education. They also neglected issues of governance and inequality, which are at the core of the new SDGs. In particular, Goal 16 commits all signatory countries to “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies … provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. Such different targets emphasise a variety of factors that are essential to eliminate extreme poverty and foster more resilient societies over the fifteen years to 2040: the end of violent conflict; the rule of law; equal access to justice; the reduction of corruption; participatory decision-making; access to information; and human rights.
There is an obvious retort to these fine ambitions. "This all sounds very well and good - but it doesn’t say anything about how to get there." How to answer?
