Smart Development Goals

Abstract

Over the course of 2014 and 2015, more than a hundred researchers evaluated the social, environmental and economic costs and benefits of more than 100 targets proposed by sector experts-economists, NGOs, UN agencies and businesses-across 22 topic areas. SMART DEVELOPMENT GOALS The expert panel has reviewed all this research and finds that the following 19 targets represent the best value-for-money in development over the period 2016 to 2030. The targets have been grouped into three broad themes: people, planet and prosperity echoing the UN's focus on social, environmental and economic pillars of development. The panel recognises that the elimination of extreme poverty remains an important, focal aspiration for the entire post-2015 agenda. The topic areas were drawn from the High Level Panel and covered: air pollution, biodiversity, climate change, conflict and violence, data for development , energy, education, food security, nutrition, gender equality, governance and institutions, health systems, illicit financial flows, infant mortality and women's health, infectious diseases, infrastructure, non-communicable diseases, population and demography, poverty, science and technology, trade and, water and sanitation. Many of the targets below would help achieve reductions in poverty such as more free trade, educating pre-schoolers in Africa, nutrition and ensuring greater gender equality for women. The expert panel find that reaching these global targets by 2030 return more than $15 of good for every dollar spent benefitting people, planet and prosperity. Lower chronic child malnutrition by 40% Providing nutritional supplements, deworming, and improving the balance of diet for 0-2 year olds will cost $11bn and prevent 68m children from being malnourished every year Halve malaria infection Distributing long lasting insecticide treated bed-nets and delaying resistance to the malaria drug artemisinin will cost $0.6bn, prevent 100m cases of malaria and save 440,000 lives per year Reduce tuberculosis deaths by 90%