Now that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been formally adopted by the United Nations, some who follow the process are pointing out that previous Millennium Development Goals were never achieved. So why would the outcome of the Sustainable Development Goals be any different?
Unlike the MDGs, which were developed by a relatively small group of international development experts and donors, the SDGs are a product of far-reaching, iterative stakeholder involvement. Some argue that the SDGs are overly convoluted, while others exercise cautious optimism at the new development agenda.
Form and word count aside, the new goals reflect our current understanding of development in the face of pressing global challenges such as a digital skills divide, rising unemployment and population growth. The SDGs also acknowledge that information technology and the Internet have fundamentally reprogrammed the way we, as humans, interact and learn.
About the authors
Joel Turner
Joel Turner is a program officer at IREX and works on Beyond Access projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali and Myanmar. Joel was previously based in Namibia, but is now based in Washington, D.C.
Amber Ehrke
Amber Ehrke is a program coordinator at IREX, working on Beyond Access communications and supporting the project in Myanmar.
