UN launches post-2015 development agenda

The United Nations has launched a post-2015 development agenda, containing a new framework that will build on the Millennium Development Goals and that aims for five major transformational shifts across the globe.

In a statement, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the new report entitled “A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development,” had set out a roadmap that would fill the gaps in the MDG process, such as building institutions “that are honest, accountable and responsive to people’s needs.”

“The world has a historic opportunity to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve sustainability and equality for all through the new post-2015 development agenda,” Ban said, following the receipt of the report compiled by a high-level panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

According to the UN, the report sets out a universal agenda to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 and deliver on the promise of sustainable development.

It stresses that the new development agenda must be universal and must be infused with a spirit of partnership.

Based on the report, the post-2015 goals are expected to drive the following transformational shifts: from “reducing” to ending extreme poverty, leaving no one behind; putting sustainable development at the core of the development agenda; transforming economies to drive inclusive growth; building accountable institutions, open to all, that will ensure good governance and peaceful societies, and forging a new global partnership based on cooperation, equity and human rights.

The 27-member high-level panel’s report is intended to build on the eight MDGs, agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000.

Among the important results of that summit were the setting of specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a Global Partnership for Development—all scheduled for completion by 2015.