ABSTRACT
As the year 2015 drew nearer, the debate in development policy was increasingly dominated by the agenda which would follow up the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Countless reports, proposals and statements were issued and conferences were held on the topic, and even within the UN there was a sometimes bewildering array of global reports on the post-2015 agenda: the Report of the Secretary-General ‘A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the MDGs and advancing the UN development agenda beyond 2015’ (UN 2013a); the report by the UN Development Group ‘A million voices: The world we want’ which was based on a global consultation on the post-2015 agenda (UN 2013b); the report of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals, which was the outcome of the UN conference on sustainable development titled ‘The future we want’ (UN 2014a); the report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 development agenda ‘A new global partnership: Eradicate poverty and transform economies through sustainable development’ (UN 2014b); and finally the synthesis report of the Secretary-General ‘The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming all Lives and Protecting the Planet’ (UN 2014c). And while the one report based not on experts but on more participatory methods states that ‘a sense of injustice at the deep inequalities and insecurities permeates all the consultations’ (UN 2013b: 17), the others are (although dealing with a comprehensive number of issues) focused on the topic of sustainable development, considering however not only the inclusion of the North into the agenda, but also the question of inequality and the objective of ending poverty.
