Should global goal setting continue, and how, in the post-2015 era?

The 21st century began with an unprecedented commitment to a new consensus on ending poverty as the central purpose of international development. World leaders from 189 countries, including 147 Heads of State and Government, gathered at the United Nations General Assembly to define the central challenges for the new century. They adopted the Millennium Declaration (UN 2000 A/RES/55/2) which stated their determination to work towards development and poverty eradication, peace and security, environmental conservation, democracy and human rights. They pledged to “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty” (paragraph 11). They further emphasized that the global reach of these commitments went beyond their own national borders to people worldwide, notwithstanding the primary responsibility that governments have for their own citizens.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development