Post-2015 Development Agenda

Las negociaciones en torno a la Agenda 2030 caminaron durante 2015 con lentitud y paso dudoso, pareciera que nos enfrentamos a un problema geopolítico entre norte y sur ante el escenario de tener una agenda para el desarrollo integral, enfrente, ante los retos de desigualdad y pobreza tenemos un modelo económico, comercial y financiero que pone límites y retrocesos a dicha agenda, ese es el principal reto de su construcción.

Development Cooperation, in addition to clear social and political support, originated from a context which represented a coherent contribution within the framework of Development Theory. However, from the 1980s with the rise of neoliberal ideas, debates on development and the international cooperation system and its strategies took different directions. Currently, the definition and monitoring of the Agenda has become the centre of debate, with the consequent abandonment of the theoretical and historical perspectives as well as the traditional perception of development as a process of transformation of reality. This disconnection between ideas on development and cooperation has led to a long-standing confusion over cooperation, with its role becoming increasingly unclear. This paper highlights the need to return to the relationship between theoretical reflection on development and cooperation strategies, through a process of identifying problems, studying their causes and consequently designing strategies. The way in which these links are created will open up the possibility of proposing alternatives according to the risks and challenges to be faced.

Ahora que inicia el periodo de implementación de la Agenda 2030 es crucial no considerar la misma como un plan completo y cerrado, sino al contrario, como un proceso abierto. En este sentido el mejor seguimiento que puede realizarse a la agenda durante su implementación es aquél que contribuya a revisar y a perfeccionar la definición y la formulación de la misma. No sólo porque dicha formulación ofrezca como resultado una agenda a menudo inconsistente y a veces contradictoria, lo que no es más que el reflejo de pugnas políticas que explican los desafíos que enfrentamos. También porque la agenda no logra superar un marco impuesto en el que el desarrollo no se concibe en su complejidad y multidimensionalidad, sino que mantiene la prevalencia de visiones economicistas, liberalizadoras y de apariencia apolítica que responden más bien a intereses de algunos actores transnacionales que a un acuerdo global, coherente y consistente para transformar el mundo.

The rule of law is the cornerstone of the international legal system. This paper shows, through analysis of intergovernmental instruments, statements made by representatives of States, and negotiation records, that the rule of law at the United Nations has become increasingly
contested in the past years. More precisely, the argument builds on the process of integrating the notion of the rule of law into the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in September 2015 in the document Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The main sections set out the background of the rule of law debate at the UN, the elements of the rule of law at the goal- and target levels in the 2030 Agenda – especially in the SDG 16 –, and evaluate whether the rule of law in this context may be viewed as a normative and universal foundation of international law. The paper concludes, with reflections drawn from the
process leading up to the 2030 Agenda and the final outcome document that the rule of law – or at least strong and precise formulations of the concept – may be in decline in institutional and normative settings. This can be perceived as symptomatic of a broader crisis of the international legal order.

In December 2011, a year of celebrations regarding the 50th anniversary of the OECD came to an abrupt end in Busan, where the international community blew out the candle of aid effectiveness, which had been a defining feature of the international aid regime until then. This master’s thesis will apply a critical realist approach in combination with a Drivers of Change (DoC) analysis to explore the influence of China’s rise as a provider of development finance to Africa, on the Western aid system administered by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. The paper identifies the key structures, institutions, and agents of the Chinese aid model and the OECD aid system, respectively, and engages into a case-based analysis of the interplay between China’s Export-Import Bank, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the bilateral DAC donor agencies in relation to the governments of Angola and Zambia. The two Southern African countries reveal differing stances of China and the OECD-DAC donors towards the use of conditionality, the concept of ownership, and the actual sectoral allocation of funds. The thesis shows how the Chinese aid model is winning popularity among African leaders, thereby putting pressure on the OECD donors. The governments of Angola and Zambia are found to primarily be interested in the attraction of FDI and the consolidation of their power; two demands China is delighted to accommodate. The increasing leverage of China in the developing world, and other emerging donors, has led to signs of a rhetorical change within the OECD donor community, following the 4th High Level Forum on aid effectiveness in Busan, towards a focus on ‘win-win’ cooperation based on trade relations, affecting waning political support for the principles of the Paris Declaration. Hence, the thesis concludes that China has had an influence on the changing nature of the OECD aid regime in the last decade. The future will tell whether the diminished political interest in aid effectiveness also translates into a further decrease of the importance of ODA in the post-Busan era.

Pada tulisan ini saya mengajak hadirat pembaca menyimak apa itu ekologi pembangunan, bagaimana proses pembangunan yang berwawasan lingkungan atau yang lebih dikenal dengan istilah pembangunan berkelanjutan (sustainable development), dan hal yang sangat krusial dalam studi ekologi pembangunan adalah menyoal tersedianya sumberdaya yang cukup—dalam pengertian daya dukung lingkungan yang mempengaruhi berjalannya proses pembangunan.

Uno de los principales desafíos de la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible consiste en configurar un nuevo marco de gobernanza pública y una renovada arquitectura estatal que permitan promover sociedades pacíficas e inclusivas para el desarrollo sostenible, facilitar el acceso a la justicia para todos y construir a todos los niveles instituciones eficaces, responsables e inclusivas que rindan cuentas (Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible 16). En este contexto, el paradigma del gobierno abierto constituye un medio de referencia y un eje fundamental para cumplir los Objetivos de la Agenda 2030.

El propósito de esta obra pionera es contribuir al debate emergente sobre el tránsito hacia un Estado abierto por medio de múltiples miradas provenientes de la propia CEPAL y de representantes de organismos multilaterales, autoridades y responsables de gobierno, expertos de reconocida trayectoria, académicos y representantes de organizaciones de la sociedad civil de la región, así como de plataformas de innovación y activismo cívico.

Apresentação da adequação das metas globais da Agenda 2030 para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável à realidade brasileira, em cumprimento à atribuição recebida da Comissão Nacional dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CNODS),
A nacionalização das metas dos ODS considera as  prioridades do
Brasil, suas estratégias, planos e programas nacionais e os desafios do país para garantir o desenvolvimento sustentável na próxima década.

ABSTRAK Tujuan penelitian adalah (1) menemukan model keseimbangan teoritis luas lahan pertanian optimum di wilayah perkotaan; (2) menemukan proporsi luas lahan pertanian dan non pertanian optimum, dan (3) mengestimasi luas baku lahan sawah optimum yang mendukung ketahanan pangan wilayah di Kota Mataram. Penelitian dilaksanakan dengan metode ekplanatory. Data primer dikumpulkan melalui teknik survey, sementara data sekunder diperoleh dari Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) dan Badan Pelaksana Penyuluh Pertanian Perikanan dan Kehutanan (BP3K) Kota Mataram. Pengumpulan data sekunder dilakukan dengan mencatat atau mengcopy dari sumber tersebut. Model keseimbangan teoritis luas lahan pertanian optimum menggunakan grafik 4 (empat) kuadran, yang terdiri atas empat variabel utama, yaitu luas baku lahan sawah, produksi pangan beras lokal, impor pangan beras, dan pendapatan rumah tangga. Data primer dianalisis menggunakan persamaan simultan dengan bantuan software SAS dilanjutkan dengan analisis optimalisasi menggunaan koefisien lagrang dan scaling up. Data sekunder dianalisis menggunakan trend linear dengan bantuan software excel. Kesimpulan yang diperoleh dari hasil kajian bahwa : (1) Proporsi alokasi luas lahan pertanian dan non pertanian optimum adalah 0,32 dan 0,68 terhadap luas wilayah untuk mendukung ketahanan pangan wilayah perkotaan. Implikasinya adalah diperlukannya perlindungan lahan pangan produktif berkelanjutan untuk mengendalikan alih fungsi lahan dari pertanian ke non pertanian. (2) Luas baku lahan sawah optimum 2.020,36 hektar untuk mendukung ketahanan pangan wilayah di Kota Mataram. Tahun 2015 merupakan waktu yang tepat untuk menetapkan Peraturan Daerah Kota Mataram tentang perlindungan lahan pangan produktif berkelanjutan. (3) Penggunaan data cross section yang dianalisis menggunakan persamaan simultan yang dilanjutkan dengan simulasi merupakan alternatif model keseimbangan teoritis luas lahan tidak menghasilkan luas lahan pertanian optimum baik melalui simulasi maupun scaling up. Pilihannya adalah menggunakan data time series menggunakan analisis trend linear menghasilkan luas baku lahan sawah optimum dan menemukan proporsi alokasi luas lahan pertanian dan non pertanian.

Analyses of redistributive policies often focus on income flows to examine the nexus between redistribution and economic growth. With strengthening signs of growing economic inequality in many countries, an increasing number of economists investigated the existence and nature of a hypothetical trade-off between economic growth and equity. As signs of unsustainable development are strengthening more generally, this paper proposes to look at the broader nexus between redistribution, equity and sustainable development, emphasizing its social and environmental dimensions. It does so by first proposing an analytical framework defining the role of redistributive policies in shaping the private income cycle as well as the public revenue-expenditure cycle. This framework distinguishes between the stock of income-generating assets (such as human capital and wealth, including land and industrial and financial capital) and deriving income flows in order to clarify the difference between the two sides of in-equity (i.e. in-equality of opportunity and in-equality of outcome), which remain intertwined in the growth-equity trade-off debate. This stock-flow approach is then used to outline key linkages between redistributive policies, in-equity and un-sustainable development. Contrasting the potential scope of redistributive policies with the more narrow set of policies that have been implemented in most countries/regions over the last 30 years, the paper discusses 14 avenues for redistributive policies to promote greater equity, economic empowerment and sustainable development.

On 26 September, the United Nations will adopt the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development’, which includes 17 ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). These Goals will replace the Millennium Development Goals and are meant to make international development transformative and sustainable. This ambition is reflected in their thematic scope which covers fundamental aspects of the social, the economic and the environmental dimensions of sustainable development. In addition, the SDGs are truly universal in nature, i.e. they constitute a challenge for all countries, including the most developed ones. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda will thus involve domestic policymakers as well as international cooperation and go beyond development policy. The list of indicators that is needed for making the goals and targets operational is expected for March 2016. Indicators will be fundamental for implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
Therefore, a group of experts from the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) have prepared detailed comments on all goals and the indicators that are currently under discussion. The result is an update of a draft version circulated earlier this year.
The comments show how difficult it is to identify adequate indicators for all the goals in the new agenda. Some of them can be measured more easily while others are rather
qualitative in nature so that it is difficult to measure progress in quantitative terms. In
addition, some of the indicators under discussion are very complex with the effect that
there is a risk that only experts are able to understand and remember them. Also, some goals lack specifications or a dead-line for achievement, or they are not yet measurable with the available data. And finally, some indicators cover just a small segment of what the respective goal is meant to achieve.
With this review, we aim at providing an input for the debate on indicators and for the
process of designing national strategies to implement the 2030 Agenda. The monitoring and review processes at the global, regional and national levels will be fundamental for measuring progress, and for adjusting policies.
The introduction of the volume summarizes the achievements made by the adoption of a new agenda for sustainable development. It shows the advantages of the SDGs in
comparison with the MDGs. The chapter after the introduction focusses on how the UN system can contribute to implementation, monitoring and review of the 2030 Agenda, and reflects on the possible shape of an accountability framework. The core of the discussion paper are chapters that review every SDG, its subordinate targets and its proposed indicators.

Degrowth calls for the abolishment of economic growth as a social objective and signifies a desired direction where societies
will use less natural resources and organize to live very differently than today. This article traces the origins of degrowth from
theorists of the 1970s, to the French activist movement of décroissance in the 2000s, to the contemporary international
activist-researcher movement. We identify 10 degrowth theses concerned with the limits to – and of – growth, the relationship
between growth, degrowth, and democratic politics, and the everyday and institutional alternatives that can facilitate
a degrowth transition.

Kallis, G., Demaria, F., D'Alisa, G., 2015. Degrowth. In: James D. Wright (editor-in-chief), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, Vol 6. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 24–30. ISBN: 9780080970868

With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, an ambitious education goal, emphasizing the quality of education, is put on the global agenda. The SDGs are likely to mobilize considerable efforts and resources and their focus will determine development cooperation in significant ways.
In this paper, I am particular interested in SDG 4, which calls for “ensur[ing] inclusive and equitable quality education and promot[ing] lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Consultations towards SDG 4 and towards the indicators for SDG 4 have raised questions of defining and measuring the quality of education. In March 2016, the Inter-agency Expert Group on SDG Indicators will decide on a global indicator framework for the SDGs. This is happening before the background of a strong emphasis on results-based financing and quantitative assessments within the current development agenda. Hence, concerns regarding the continuation of knowledges and educational practices that do not lend themselves easily to quantification need to be raised.
I explore how the voices of those emphasising local and indigenous practices and pluriversal knowledges have been included in the consultation processes and relevant outcome documents. The perspective of new diplomacy allows me to focus on these processes and highlight multistakeholder practices in the post-2015 development agenda.
I argue that global consultations and negotiations regarding SDG 4 and the quality of education give reasons to doubt the success of a new diplomacy and a new development agenda. The negotiations and consultations indicate that there is the articulation of a pluriverse, but that the indicator framework for assessing the quality of education globally, as it is currently discussed, actively excludes it. This realization is crucial as it has consequences, not just for the focus of development efforts, but the continuation and advancement of pluriversal knowledges and practices.

Social goals tend to be marginalized in the implementation of sustainable development while economic growth is prioritized often also at the cost of ecological goals. Many of these development issues are essentially distributional issues.These distributional challenges will be exacerbated by the need to limit the environmental utilization space (ecospace) on Earth and the consequent challenge of how this space will be equitably and inclusively shared among countries and people. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets developed by the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) against criteria for inclusive development. Inclusive development principles, tools, and evaluation criteria for the proposed SDGs fall into three clusters: inclusive development per sé; inclusive development in the context of the Anthropocene; and inclusive development from a relational perspective. Regarding inclusive development per...

Se trata de una obra con aportes de especialistas de diferentes universidades de España y otras instituciones para afrontar la problemática del hambre y la malnutrición y lograr el derecho a la alimentación en España.
En el capítulo XIV, titulado "Una agenda ODS que no invisibilice ni reduzca el
Derecho Humano a la Alimentación" desarrollamos la necesidad de incorporar el enfoque de derechos a la hora de abordar la Agenda 2030 y los compromisos en torno al derecho a la alimentación.

What does it take to generate real social change and equality?
Rwanda has an answer - social transformation as a path to recovery. This paper defines the background to social transformation in Rwanda. In the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, one million people were cruelly slaughtered and over 300,000 women were raped in 100 days. Women had to pick up the pieces as they found themselves without husbands, fathers and sons to carry on farming, business and governance, and caring for orphans and widows. Six issues considered responsible for Rwanda’s transformation are put forward as recommendations for building the Post 2015 Agenda.

Despite of persistent efforts from the part of organizations aiming to solve or to alleviate the
world’s most challenging issues, there are limitations of the current problem-solving system based
on hierarchical bureaucratic models. These are mainly related to the powerlessness of the profes-
sional sector when, alone, facing global issues of ever increasing complexity and uncertainty. The
current context often called “the network age” has in turn, supported and enhanced systems
which serve as means for coping with these complex and uncertain scenarios, such as the concept
of distributed cognition that leads (in its positive aspects) to collaborative, participatory and peer-
to-peer common oriented processes, including the emergence of decentralized systems as well as
the gradual empowerment of the civil society (overlapping with the latter); forming altogether,
the background of latent paradigm shifts. 
Concurrently there is the political discourse (driven by the UN) on Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and of a Data Revolution, where the claim is that the latter is indispensable for
achieving the former. The Data Revolution’s main purpose is to fill data gaps in order to leave no
one behind and its realization is also crucial for unlocking other latent paradigm shifts. This thesis
introduces the core concepts of such a paradigm shifts whilst focusing on two collaborative ap-
proaches for data collection and analysis: crowdsourcing and citizen science; most specifically on
their role and challenges in the context of the current data revolution. Crowdsourcing and citizen
science (also citizen journalism and other participatory monitoring activities) are not just part of the
context of latent paradigm shifts, but do play a major role for the realization of a data revolution,
once professionals and machines do not currently suffice to fill those data gaps. This hinders proper
accounting, planning and distribution of resources and hence spoils efforts to tackle the critical
issues involved in the SDGs. 
Unfortunately there is wide reluctance from the part of the institutions (UN, INGOs and
governments) in adopting these approaches as valid data/information sources. The main goal of
this MA thesis is to identify the reason behind this reluctance, shedding light on deadlocks ham-
pering the consolidation of a data revolution. In order to do so, the problematic was approached
from multiple perspectives, characterizing a truly interdisciplinary inquiry, which, based on the
approach of the “informed grounded theory”, presents the main challenges of crowdsourcing
and citizen science in multiple levels and from multiple perspectives. 
From a pragmatic perspective, issues related with data quality as well as the issue of little un-
derstanding  have  been  the  most  cited.  Withal  the  fact  that  both  issues  are  not  exclusive  to
crowdsourcing or citizen science has shown to be crucial for the present inquiry, although widely
neglected  in  the  literature.  Thus  for  this  and  other  important  reasons  to  be  further  discussed
throughout chapters 3 and 4, an alternative to the “quality-centred” approach towards crowdsourc-
ing and citizen science is appropriate, nevertheless the quality issue should not be disregarded, as it
is reasonable, but eventually addressed in a different manner as part of the problematic, but not as
“the problematic” itself. 
In addition, prejudice from the part of professionals has been cited by some expert inter-
viewees as the “real” reason behind the reluctance vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and citizen science as
valid data/information sources. Analysis has shown that prejudice is omnipresent with regards to new technologies or any novel approach. For there is no time to wait for wider acceptance, given
the urgency of matters, and as prejudice shows to result from ignorance linked to the clash of
paradigms, this thesis also focuses on the question of what lays behind prejudice. In order to
answer this question, other crucial parts of the problematic encompassing constrained profes-
sional autonomy, risk and blame aversion are discussed throughout the thesis, forming altogether
a hypothesis advocating that the resistance from the part of institutions towards crowdsourcing
and citizen science is not just rooted on prejudice, but also on lack of trust in society; being both
resultants of excess of accountability which has been ultimately delineated by public discourse.
After a rough analysis, the latter has shown to be in unbalance, overemphasizing the need for
accountability and consequently (based on the premise of a necessary balance between trust and
control/accountability), inadvertently, undermining trust.
Paradoxically the overdose of accountability in public discourse reflects an attempt to restore
trust in society. This paradox can be found also within the discourse on the data revolution, hinder-
ing this and other latent paradigm shifts of thriving, as for them all mutual trust is a requisite. If
there is no trust from the part of organizations towards the public, there will be no room (ac-
ceptance) for approaches relying on citizen-generated data, leaving data gaps and many people and
countries behind. The outcomes of this analysis are useful for those stakeholders contributing to
the discourses on the fundamental role of a data revolution, as they should reframe the latter giving
more weight to “top-down” trust, if we are to see the realization of such a shift.

post 2015development agenda in the Kenyan context. . The study was a hybrid of desk-survey using government and international documents as well as primary sources from field using primary school teachers as respondents. The major finding was that as Kenya boldly makes efforts to face the challenges of providing primary school education in the post 2015 agenda, the country faces multifarious and intertwined problems related to regional inequalities in access to education arising from inadequate financial resources, human resources, physical facilities and rampant outdated cultural practices that have adversely affected the quality of the

Abstract:
This paper is based on the theoretical background of a recent Australian anthropological research project describing persistent use of complementary, alternative and traditional medicine (CAM) by poor people, in a first-world country where CAM is positioned as marginal relative to dominant biomedicine. Studies found CAM’s sidelined status was especially prevalent in context of consumers supporting their own wellbeing while receiving conventional HIV/AIDS treatment. Due to ongoing medicalisation processes, a construed CAM marginality is also extended to traditional medicine use in resource-poor countries in Africa, despite pharmaceuticals often being unaffordable. Anthropological studies describe traditional medicine’s diminished social location in light of cultural considerations, and relevance to issues of poverty and socio-economic development.
A growing body of ethnobotanical and laboratory research demonstrates potential uses and effectiveness of traditional indigenous and naturalised African herbs, for allaying hunger and ameliorating serious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and other infective, nutritional, and metabolic conditions. Traditional herbs may be protective where reduced dependence on expensive internationally-sourced pharmaceuticals is common, and reinforces the significance of cultural heritage in planning new developmental directions in challenging circumstances. The author acknowledges recent research about African herbal medicines, and suggests traditional herbal medicine is appropriate in African healthcare contexts, whether for treatment, maintenance of wellbeing, or to improve preventative care and health promotion. She highlights its prospective contribution to poverty alleviation and realisation of development goals.

This report considers the strengths and weaknesses of the current global health architecture, and of the relevance and responsive of the health architecture for the post 2015 agenda. It looks at health architecture, health aid and health governance from a global perspective. The report finds that the current architecture is crowded and poorly coordinated.Concern about global health has focused attention on global health governance architecture. The current system fails to provide sufficient justification for an obligation to assist in meeting the health needs of others. Transnational and national actors too often pursue their own interests. A stronger commitment to all people being healthy is needed. It is clear that reform is needed due to a mismatch between governance mechanisms and the vulnerability and complexity of global processes. A profound transition of the global health system is already under way. Health priorities must reflect the health needs of both current and future generations. State and non-state actors must be better connected for transparent policy dialogue in decision-making processes that affect health. Commitments to global solidarity and shared responsibility is needed to move towards a more sustainable and healthy system.  Those players from the private sector and civil society must be included in the reform process and the governance system that follows. The more transparent the governance system is, the more effective it will be.

EU, throughout its experience in regionalization, has found that regional coalition would reduce its challenges in negotiations and influencing opponents (Chishti, S. 2002). To secure such a position, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) founding members have also chosen to follow the footstep and created a region in South Asia. Although they have succeeded to create SAARC, but the advancement toward regionalization has been slow and mainly relied on the guidance and support of the external powers or other regions. SAARC remains a weak region. Therefore, it needs strong institutions to the level of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Justice or the European Parliament (Reed, A. M.  2009: 10).

SAARC is one of the weakest regions in the world and most importantly bearing a quarter of the world`s population where almost half of them live under poverty line. Its development in the past three decade has been unsatisfactory because there is little attention paid to the significance of the regional priorities by its member states. This has resulted in SAARC’s lack of capacity to cope with the challenges it faces and to accomplish its regionalization goals. In addition, EU has been involved in assisting regionalization in SAARC – through economic and non-economic assistance – for the past two decades, but its cooperation demonstrated less noticeable contribution in making SAARC a successful regional organization.

This report of the Formal Proceedings of the 2014 Istanbul Summit on Women's Perspectives on UN Post-2015 Development Agenda, edited by Semiha Topal  contains a paper by Shirley Randell on Women Empowerment (Gender Equality, Violence Against Women, Discrimination)- pp 53-59
The Journalists and Writers Foundation Press ISBN: 978-975-6714-54-6

Presentación basada en estudio "Más allá de 2015: perspectivas y propuestas para la cooperación al desarrollo entre la Unión Europea y América Latina y el Caribe", elaborado por José Antonio Sanahuja (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) y Sergio Tezanos (Universidad de Cantabria) (coords.), Alejandra Kern (Universidad Nacional de San Martín) y Daniela Perrotta (Universidad de Buenos Aires), por encargo de la Fundación EU-LAC

1. Introduction 2. An Overview Of Understanding Poverty From Diverse Perspectives 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Looking Poverty Though Multiple Lenses 3. Problems Of Dollarising Poverty 3.1. Introduction 3.2. International Poverty Line And Measuring Global Poverty 3.3. Dollarisation Of Poverty 4. Poverty Reduction As A Development Agenda - Looking Beyond 2015 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Donorising Poverty Reduction Through Sanitising Mdgs 4.3. Hoorah! Global Poverty Is Halved, But What Does It Actually Mean? 4.4. What ' 's Next For Poverty Reduction After 2015? 5. Conclusion

The field of international development cooperation is undergoing tectonic shifts, with new nodes of decision-making and resources emerging alongside existing institutions. From the 1970s to the turn of the millennium, the Bretton Woods
Institutions, alongside the United Nations Development System (UNDS) – the fifty-plus programs and agencies within the organization that are primarily dedicated to international development – constituted the field’s loose center of gravity.
Since the turn of the millennium, however, the gamut of actors involved in international development has diversified significantly, with private foundations, South-South cooperation providers, and other stakeholders becoming more influential
– both quantitatively and qualitatively. This broadening assortment of actors (and the development norms they espouse) creates new dilemmas for the UNDS. Broadly put, what should be the UN’s role within the shifting panorama of international development? This paper focuses on one piece of this changing puzzle: the emergence of new multilateral development banks and their role within the field of
international development, including the implications for the United Nations. More specifically, the paper concentrates on two recently established institutions, one primarily regional and the other essentially transregional: the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB). Examining these two nascent organizations against the backdrop of some of the field’s key debates, including the changing role that geopolitics plays in international development politics, I argue that the UN must be proactive in redefining its role vis-à-vis the dynamic
network of institutions being created by so-called
rising powers. The key point is this: in order to
maintain its relevance in the field, the United Nations must harness its convening power and boost its legitimacy as agenda-setter, so as to foster a clearer division of labor with development financing institutions, particularly in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

After years of debate and dialogue at the international level, it’s possible that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-fatigue will lead to settling for practical, achievable goals and targets over ambitious principles that strengthen norms and give national groups a further point of leverage. Exhaustion from international processes, and short deadlines for national targets, could truncate the needed dialogue at the national level in favour of a technocratic process to determine national targets. Drawing evidence from over 150 pieces of literature on international agreements, this paper proposes lessons for the design of the SDGs. They key message is that we should not let practicality blunt our ambition, but instead take time to make sure that global goals can be used for real problem solving around the world.  It suggests we may need to look at the SDGs as closer analogues to international human rights and environmental agreements than international programmes or, even, than their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals.