ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the goals and targets, and highlights what was controversial, innovative, or groundbreaking. The most controversial issue was sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. In some cultures and religions, abortion and birth control are forbidden, and the concept of reproductive rights is not recognized. To reassure developing countries and others who had invested in the Millennium Development Goals, it was important to first address the unfinished goals. Some Open Working Group (OWG) members framed the goal as not simply to end poverty but to do so irreversibly. OWG participants also wanted to ensure that this goal addressed malnutrition in various dimensions, not just calorie deficiency, by sharply reducing stunting and wasting. As the nongovernmental organizations Third World Network noted, this goal "signaled an openness to engage with complex and difficult issues that matter critically for sustainable development". However, the Americans pushed back on a goal to reduce inequalities, especially among countries.
