ABSTRACT
Introduction At certain points in history incremental changes that were never thought possible just happen, and 2015 may be seen as just such a year in the field of development assistance. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were concluded, and considered a success. There has been tremendous progress in development over the past 15 years. On a global basis, extreme poverty has been halved, as have child mortality and the proportion of people without access to safe water. Nonetheless, a lot of problems remain to be tackled and many people continue to live in poverty. The Ebola epidemic is an indication of huge hazards in the health sector. The number of people affected by extreme weather events linked to global warming is steadily increasing. The importance of peace has been emphasized for Europeans, as several million refugees from the war in Syria and surrounding areas in the Middle East seek to enter the European Union (EU) in search of protection and the ability to live a decent life. The MDGs may have been concluded, but in November 2015 193 United Nations member states agreed that many development issues still need to be tackled. A new framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was adopted, to be achieved by 2030.1 With 17 different goals and 169 different targets, they are much broader in scope than the MDGs, and call on all countries – be they upper, middle or low income – to make tangible improvements in the lives of their citizens. The goals encompass social, environmental and economic aspects. This is an ambitious agenda and the resources needed every year to achieve the SDGs are, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), about ten times bigger than the current levels of Official Development Assistance (ODA).2
