SDGs were doomed to fail from the start, new Oxfam chief warns

The world is failing to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty because politicians have become servants of the super-rich instead of their own citizens, the new head of Oxfam International says.

In an interview with Devex, Amitabh Behar rejected the argument that the United Nations targets — set in 2015, to be delivered in 2030 — have been derailed by a so-called polycrisis of coinciding catastrophic events including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s assault on Ukraine.

Instead, Oxfam’s executive director and former Oxfam India chief executive, said politicians’ “lofty ideals” were doomed from the start because they failed to address the reality of how the global economy is run.

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