Poverty reduction and sustainable social and economic development remain an area of high priority for the international community for the years to come. The purpose is not only humanitarian - i.e. the reduction of the number of people living in poverty/extreme poverty - but it also responds to a broader concern to ensure the long-term economic and social sustainability and cohesion of the global economy. Between 2000 and 2015 the international community and the multilateral system engaged to attain the Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight global targets mainly aiming at poverty reduction. The MDG agenda was successful in mobilizing international efforts in a more consistent manner and also partially achieved its targets (notably in the area of extreme poverty reduction) despite the global economic slowdown following the financial crisis in 2008-2009. A new, broader and more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals agenda was adopted in 2015 with 17 goals to be attained by 2030. The new SDG agenda will inevitably require a re-vamped effort to focus and allocate resources on international development cooperation. A “revitalized global partnership” is being promoted for the implementation of the goals and the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda has called for additional and more coherent development financing. A key requirement for development partners to make the case for increased development aid and funding is to demonstrate and enhance the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of development cooperation programmes.
- Professor: Antonio Graziosi