After years of consultations and campaigning, the world has a new plan for tackling poverty, inequality and climate change. The sustainable development goals were formally adopted by 193 member states at the UN general assembly, green lighting them to replace the millennium development goals, which expire this year. You can follow the action as it happened, read how the new pledge affects women and children, and see how campaigners turned out to mark the new agreement. And if you think you know a few things about the new goals, test your knowledge with our SDGs quiz.
In 2005, photographer Nick Danziger began to create an archive of photographs documenting the lives of women and children in eight countries around the world. He returned five years later, and again in 2015. Had the millennium development goals made a difference to their lives? Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring the families from the countries he photographed, beginning with Niger.
Elsewhere on the site
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UN hails impressive gains on education and reducing child mortality in Africa
- Cambodian women turn to tech in hope apps can turn tide of gender violence
- Gambian community project helps women turn waste to worth
- China pledges $2bn for development goals and says it will write off debts
- Bangladesh’s PM rejects claims of repression: ‘I do politics for the people’
Opinion
While many campaigners welcomed the adoption of the sustainable development goals, there were also warnings that this new agenda could not be fulfilled if countries failed to monitor progress. Speaking on the gender equality targets, Keiko Nowacka called for greater pressure on leaders to build on the statistical advances of the past 15 years, saying that “what gets measured, gets done”.
After a global nutrition report showed improvements in tackling stunting in under-fives, the three co-chairs of the group leading the report called for countries to go a step further and tackle malnutrition in all its forms.
And on education, Pauline Rose and Benjamin Alcott laid out their five-point plan for achieving the goal of educating every child in the world.
Multimedia
Gallery: A journey across 10 years and four continents – Nick Danziger’s tales from Niger
Podcast: Africa’s children 10 years on – what happened next?
What you said: top reader comment
On the piece Global goals on women’s rights are a pale imitation of promises made in Beijing, Alina Hangma Limbu wrote:
I agree with the writers. The absence of accountability is the biggest weakness that exists. Having policies which are merely implemented further worsens the fight of gender equality. In many cases, it is used as solution to every demand of gender inequality, as an indicator of government’s achievement, although nothing is done to put it into action. Accountability is the only way to hold governments responsible to put it into action, else whatever further promises are made it will be just a piece of paper! Alina – Nepal
Highlight from the blogosphere
From Poverty to Power: Hello SDGs, what’s your theory of change?
And finally …
Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global Development website. Follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @swajones, @LizFordGuardian, @MarkC_Anderson and @CarlaOkai – on Twitter, and join Guardian Global Development on Facebook.
