Post 2015 Agenda: Transition from MDGs to SDGs – “Leave No One Behind”

Post 2015 Agenda: Transition from MDGs to SDGs – “Leave No One Behind”

Post date: Tue, Aug 4, 2015 |

Category: General |

The United Nations (UN) Summit for the Adoption of the Post 2015 Development Agenda will be held in New York on 25-26 September 2015. This marks the global transition from Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs will define the future development agenda for the next 15 years that is until 2030. In light of this, and global drive and partnership to foster development, the Heads of State and Government and High Representatives met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 13-16 July 2015 to forge a way forward in determining how the SDGs will be funded and what are the key critical issues facing the African continent.

Although the MDGs have received criticism for being too broad, they have been able to act as indicators of the development agenda for developing countries. As a follow up to the Addis Ababa conference, country representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, and Ethiopia present during the Regional Dialogue Conference on Financing for Development, organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Development Initiatives – Africa Hub, held on 29-30 July 2015 at the Sarova Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, observed that there had been marked progress in development especially in efforts to reduce/eliminate extreme poverty, which was one of the MDGs.

However, now focus has shifted to having Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which appear to be a breakdown of the MDGs into 17 goals and 169 targets to monitor and evaluate growth and development. The SDGs look at inclusive growth, and using data revolution, which the United Nations describes as using “transformative actions needed to respond to the demands of a complex development agenda”. The SDGs look at eradication of poverty and hunger in this generation, sustainable development through inclusive growth, protection of the environment and promoting peaceful inclusive societies.

Stakeholders have taken cognizance for the level of effort taken to include people at global, national and regional level, however some argue that the number of SDGs and their indicators are too many and will be difficult to track.

Kwame Owino (CEO, IEA Kenya)(L) with Hon. Zein Abubakar, East Africa Legislative Council (R) lead a panel discussion during the Regional Dialogue Conference on Financing for Development at the Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi held on 29-30 July 2015

Speaking during the Regional Dialogue Conference, Kwame Owino – Chief Executive Officer (IEA Kenya), noted that there is need to create a hierarchy to see which ones are more important and focus on those bearing in mind the limited resources. Although all SDGs are important; not all projects aligned to the SDGs will be able to be financed at once. Participants observed that it would be difficult to focus on some SDGs while leaving out others, as all of them are important. He also observed that governments would also have to find resources within their national budgets and not only rely on financial grants from outside to meet the financial gaps in order to sustain development. He also noted that despite the SDGs having more indicators than the MDGs, we should look at processes and ensure they benefit the people as opposed to focusing on the outcomes of the latter. Data revolution, he mentioned, should be incorporated to ensure we have evidence-based policies in implementing the SDGs.

Unanimous during the conference was that the SDGs need to be about the ‘Mwanachi’, the common person, and more effort should be put in sensitizing local people about their role in development and how it affects them in the long run. This will in turn see the fulfillment of the SDGs’ goal, that is, “Leave No One Behind.”

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