Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are viewed as extension of millennium development goals (MDGs) and a post-2015 agenda to fight against poverty and hunger, while protecting human rights of people and ensuring inclusive and sustainable development and healthy lives. It sounds simple but there are very complex international dynamics involved with evolution of MDGs and then SDGs. This review article examines the sociopolitical evidence base that served as motivation for MDGs to come and later on SDGs. The antecedents to the MDGs include some key summits of the 1990s which fed into many of the goals of MDGs. Then Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) came out with international development goals (IDGs). Then Clare Short (a member of the Labour Party) in the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Utstein group propelled the IDGs by securing support for them. The UN also came out with a set of development goals to be converted to MDGs. There were interactions between and within the UN and DAC to bring together one set of MDGs. Other big players were IMF and World Bank. There was huge criticism of MDGs for not being holistic as they left out certain social issues. Also there was a need for post-2015 agenda. As a result, SDGs came by the end of 2015. Even they could not escape criticism, and the article discusses few debates around them. At last, the article discusses potential challenges for SDGs, both at international level as well as national level with special emphasis on health-related SDGs.

Keywords

Millennium development goals MDGs sustainable development goals SDGs political economy public health

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

(2015). Public SDGs or private GGs. Retrieved 6 April 2016, from http://www.socialwatch.org/node/17055

Antrobus

(2006). Gender equality in the new millennium: Goal or gimmick?. Caribbean Quarterly, 52(2–3), 39–50.

Barroso

E. C.

Mota

R. M. S.

Santos

R. O.

Sousa

A. L. O.

Barroso

J. B.

Rodrigues

J. L. N.

(2003). Risk factors for acquired multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Jornal de Pneumologia, 29(2), 89–97.

Bhattacharya

Khan

T. I.

Salma

(2014). A commentary on the final outcome document of the OWG on SDGs. SAIS Review of International Affairs, 34(2), 165–177.

Bhutta

Z. A.

Das

J. K.

Bahl

Lawn

J. E.

Salam

R. A.

Paul

V. K.

Sankar

M. J.

Blencowe

Rizvi

Chou

V. B.

Walker

(2014). Can available interventions end preventable deaths in mothers, new-born babies, and stillbirths, and at what cost? Lancet, 384(9940), 347–370. Retrieved 11 February 2016, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960792-

Cameron

Roubos

Ewen

Mantel-Theunissen

A. K.

Leufkens

H. G. M.

Laing

R. O.

(2011). Differences in the availability of medicines for chronic and acute conditions in the public and private sectors of developing countries. Bull World Health Organ, 89(6), 412–421. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/6/10-084327.pdf?ua=1

Crosette

(2004). Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals: The Missing Link. Report commissioned for the Population Program of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. California: William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Development Finance International (DFI) & Oxfam (2015, April). Financing the sustainable development goals—Lessons from government spending on the MDGs (Research Report).

Dickson

K. E.

Simen-Kapeu

Kinney

M. V.

Huicho

Vesel

Lackritz

de Graft Johnson

von Xylander

Rafique

Sylla

Mwansambo

(2014). Health system bottlenecks and strategies to scale-up in countries. Lancet, 384(9941), 438–454. Retrieved 11 February 2016, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960582-

10.

Esquivel

(2016). Power and the sustainable development goals: A feminist analysis. Gender & Development, 24(1), 9–23.

11.

Filippi

Ronsmans

Campbell

O. M. R.

Graham

W. J.

Mills

Borghi

Koblinsky

Osrin

(2006). Maternal health in poor countries: The broader context and a call for action. Lancet, 368(9546), 1535–1541. doi: 10.1016/S0140- 6736(06)69384-7

12.

Fukuda-Parr

(2016). From the millennium development goals to the sustainable development goals: Shifts in purpose, concept, and politics of global goal setting for development. Gender & Development, 24(1), 43–52

13.

Furuta

Salway

(2006). Women’s position within the household as a determinant of maternal health care use in Nepal. International Family Planning Perspectives, 32(1), 17–27. doi:10.1363/ifpp.32.017.06

14.

Hauri

Armstrong

Hutin

(2004). The global burden of disease attributable to contaminated injections given in health care settings. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 15(1), 7–16. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14769164

15.

Honniball

Spijkers

(2014). MDGs and SDGs—Lessons learnt from global public participation in the drafting of the UN development goals. Vereinte Nationen-German Review on the United Nations, 62(6), 251–256.

16.

Hulme

(2009). The millennium development goals (MDGs): A short history of the world’s biggest promise (BWPI Working Paper No. 100). Manchester, UK: Brooks World Poverty Institute, The University of Manchester. ISBN: 978-1-906518-58-5.

17.

Hulme

(2010). Lessons from the making of the MDGs: Human development meets results based management in an unfair world. IDS Bulletin, 41(1), 15–25.

18.

Krieger

(2001). Theories for social epidemiology in the 21st century: An ecosocial perspective. International Journal of Epidemiology, 30(4), 668–677.

19.

Kumar

Vivekadhish

(2016). Millennium development goals (MDGs) to sustainable development goals (SDGS): Addressing unfinished agenda and strengthening sustainable development and partnership. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 41(1), 1–4.

20.

Maier

(2013). 18 months after Rio +20—Did the conference have any impact at all? Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture and Society, 1(2), 119–121.

21.

Öberg

Jaakkola

M. S.

Woodward

Peruga

Prüss-Ustün

(2011). Worldwide burden of disease from exposure to second-hand smoke: A retrospective analysis of data from 192 countries. Lancet, 377(9760), 139−146. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2961388-8/fulltext.

22.

Patel

(2016). Gender concerns in the Union Budget 2016–17. (Esocialsciences No.10460).

23.

Pedrique

Strub-Wourgaft

Some

Olliaro

Trouiller

Ford

Pécoul

Bradol

J. H.

(2013). The drug and vaccine landscape for neglected diseases (2000–11): A systematic assessment. Lancet, 1(6), e371–e379. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214109X%2813%2970078-0/fulltext

24.

Ponte

N. B.

Enriquez

C. R.

(2016). Agenda 2030: A bold enough framework towards sustainable, gender just development? Gender & Development, 24(1), 83–98.

25.

Rosenfield

Maine

(1985). Maternal mortality—A neglected tragedy: Where is the M in MCH? Lancet, 326(8446), 83–85. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(85)90188-6

26.

Say

Chou

Gemmill

Tunçalp

Moller

A. B.

Daniels

et al . (2014). Global causes of maternal death: A WHO systematic analysis. Lancet Global Health, 2(6), e323–e333. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(14)70227-X/fulltext

27.

Semrau

Evans-Lacko

Koschorke

Ashenafi

Thornicroft

(2015). Stigma and discrimination related to mental illness in lowand middle-income countries. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 24(5), 382–394. Retrieved 21 February 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25937022 (abstract).

28.

Singh

Sankar

M. M.

Gopinath

(2007). High rate of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in Indian AIDS patients. Aids, 21(17), 2345–2347.

29.

Stuart

Woodroffe

(2016). Leaving no-one behind: Can the sustainable development goals succeed where the millennium development goals lacked? Gender & Development, 24(1), 69–81. doi: 10.1080/13552074.2016.1142206

30.

UN. (2002, 18–22 March). Report of the international conference on financing for development. Monterrey: UN.

31.

UN. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. New York, NY: United Nations. Retrieved 6 March 2016, from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld

32.

UNICEF. (2014). Ending child marriage: Progress and prospects. New York, NY: United Nations Children’s Fund. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.unicef.org/media/files/Child_Marriage_Report_7_17_LR..pdf

33.

UNODC. (2015). World drug report 2015. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved 21 February 2016, from www.unodc.org/wdr2015/

34.

World Health Organization. (2006). World health report 2006. Working together for better health. Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/whr/2006/en/

35.

World Health Organization. (2008). Medicines prices, availability, affordability and price components. Geneva: Health Action International (HAI) and World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://haiweb.org/medicineprices/

36.

World Health Organization. (2012). WHO global report: Mortality attributable to tobacco. Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/surveillance/rep_mortality_attributable/en/

37.

World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneva, London and Tygerberg: World Health Organization, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and South African Medical Research Council. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564625/en/

38.

World Health Organization. (2015a). Health in 2015: From MDGs, millennium development goals to SDGs, sustainable development goals. Geneva: World Health Organization.

39.

World Health Organization. (2015b). WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2015. Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/tobacco/global_report/2015/en/

40.

World Health Organization. (Web a). Sexual and reproductive health: Female genital mutilation and other harmful practices. Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/

41.

World Health Organization. (Web b). Blood safety and availability. Fact sheet N°279 (reviewed June 2015). Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs279/en/

42.

WHO & UNICEF. (2014). Progress on drinking water and sanitation: 2014 update. Joint Water Supply, & Sanitation Monitoring Programme. World Health Organization.

43.

WHO & UNICEF. (2015a). Achieving the malaria MDG target: Reversing the incidence of malaria 2000–2015. Geneva and New York (NY): World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund. Retrieved 16 February 2016, from http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/atoz/9789241509442/en/

44.

WHO & UNICEF. (2015b). Progress on sanitation and drinking water: 2015 update and MDG assessment. Geneva and New York (NY): World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund; 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016, from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/177752/1/9789241509145_eng.pdf?ua=1

Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References