Post-2015 development agenda targets ready for adoption

The new development agenda dubbed Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, has been approved by the United Nations.

The 17 goals and 169 targets were passed on August 2 in New York, and will be formally adopted at the UN Summit in September.

The adoption of the sustainable development goals is the culmination of seven months of inter-governmental negotiations that began in December last year.

“This is the people’s agenda, a plan of action for ending poverty in all its dimensions, irreversibly, everywhere and leaving no one behind,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “It seeks to ensure peace and prosperity, and forge partnerships with people and the planet.”

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will guide the development process for the world for the coming 15 years after the expiry of the Millennium Development Goals in December.

The new agenda seeks to address the three dimensions of sustainable development — economic, social and environmental — in a balanced and integrated manner.

It lays emphasis on poverty eradication as the biggest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. It is dedicated to providing every person on the planet with food, water, energy, healthcare, housing, jobs and education.

“It is people-centred and assures rights, freedoms and access to information. It attempts to sustain oceans, forests, agriculture, land ecosystems and the earth’s climate. It lays emphasis on industrialisation, building resilient infrastructure, and ensuring inclusive and sustained economic growth,” said Kenya’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed.

“Most importantly, the new agenda defines the requisite means of achieving it through both the financial and non-financial means of implementation.”

Sustainable goals

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being for all at all ages.
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
8. Promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

Source: www.un.org