Beyond 2015: A new agenda for a better world

People everywhere around the world want to be able to influence the decisions that affect their lives. As world leaders meet this week at the U.N. General Assembly to discuss a future path for addressing global poverty, they shouldn’t forget that people in the poorest countries and communities don’t want to be told what is best for them — they want to be active partners in their own development.

How can the discussions in New York truthfully reflect their needs, wants and desires? Over the past 15 years, we’ve seen firsthand that efforts to unite behind a common set of Millennium Development Goals have made a difference. Fewer people live in extreme poverty and more people have access to clean drinking water; more children are in school; fewer women die in childbirth. There are signs of progress in addressing malaria, HIV and AIDS, and other diseases.

However, one of the many lessons we’ve learned from the MDGs is that focusing on the end result, while failing to acknowledge the means by which development can and does happen, limits our ability to affect change.