LAUSR

In October 2016, the heads of the governments of more than 190 countries endorsed the new global development agenda at the United Nations General Assembly, the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, and subsequently decided a new set of goals, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was a historic moment in which the world embarked on a new global development initiative following the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ended in 2015 with mixed results. The SDGs aim to bring about positive changes for sustainable development at the global and national levels, especially by incorporating environmental sustainability and social development into an overarching framework of global goals. Before the final submission to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the UN task force went through a widespread and open consultation process on the draft proposal for the SDGs. The UN spent more than 3 years in consultation, listening to various ideas and suggestions from national governments, civil society groups and other stakeholders. The open global consultation toward the final agreement was a clear difference in the formulating of the SDGs from the technocratic process of preparing the MDGs more than 15 years ago (Saith, 2006). The SDGs comprise 17 goals and 169 targets, and there will be many more indicators which will enable various policy stakeholders to monitor the progress of implementation. The SDGs include goals concerning global climate change and urban development as well as goals on social development, such as poverty eradication and social justice. According to the UN report entitled ‘The Road to Dignity by 2030’, the SDGs are based on six principles: people, dignity, prosperity, justice, partnership and planet (United Nations, 2014). Indeed, the SDGs are broad and comprehensive in terms of scope and targets compared to the MDGs. There are a broad range of goals, but social development goals, such as poverty, health, and gender equality, are among the particularly prominent features of the SDGs. Decent work and migration as well as social justice and equality