ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview of the several stocktaking sessions and what they contributed to the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It examines the impact of these sessions, the evolving coalitions, and the game changers—both within and outside the United Nations—that had an impact on the negotiations that followed. At the first meeting of the Open Working Group (OWG), government delegates had the opportunity to express initial views on the SDGs and the challenges before them. From the first document through to the final text of the SDGs, organizational backstopping, and hard work of the Division for Sustainable Development staff under Seth's leadership played an important role in the success of the OWG. The co-chairs may have recognized that the world had changed and the voice of civil society and nongovernmental organizations needed to be heard in the OWG, but not everyone agreed. The first few sessions generated buzz about both the OWG and the SDGs.