The idea was to use the SDGs as a new agreement to replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ceased to exist in 2015. As a result, it took three years to develop the objectives and targets.
Governments, businesses, communities, universities, NGOs and youth from around the world participated in the negotiations, and more than seven million people voted in 84 national surveys.
On September 25, 2015, after many years of discussions and consultations, the 193 countries finally agreed and signed the SDGs and commit to achieving them by 2030. This commitment is available on the UN website.
Moreover, the objectives and targets are strongly linked to each other. Like, for example:
- poverty (goal 1) can lead to hunger and malnutrition (goal 2)
- which can lead to health problems (objective 3) that may affect the ability of children to complete their education (objective 4) or adults to find employment (Goal 8).
As you can see, the links between the objectives mean that we cannot consider them separately from each other but as a puzzle, which cannot be completed without all the pieces.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are accompanied by 169 specific targets and 232 measurable indicators.
In other words, these targets and indicators will help countries plan their policies, measure their progress, identify gaps and report results to the international community.