Reflecting on the MDGs and making sense of the post-2015 development agenda : Reflecting on the Millennium Development Goals and making sense of the post-2015 development agenda

In the year 2000, world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration. A commitment to a peaceful, prosperous, and just world, the declaration included a set of targets for development and poverty reduction to be reached by 2015. These came to be known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Over the past decade, the MDGs have become a central reference point for aid and international cooperation, not only providing a compelling vision for international development, but also a set of quantitative benchmarks against which development progress can be measured. As the 2015 end date approaches, policy-makers have turned their attention to what will replace the MDGs. Preoccupation with the post-MDG agenda has led to a proliferation of analyses, discussions, and summits on what should come next. This report seeks to provide a comprehensive but manageable tour d'horizon of the post-2015 agenda. Specifically, it assembles and synthesizes the burgeoning MDG and post-2015 literature to reflect on the MDGs and identify the processes, issues, architecture, and emerging challenges that are framing and influencing the post-2015 agenda.