From MDGs to Sustainable Development For All: Lessons from 15 Years of Practice

The world cannot afford to start over with the SDGs – but must build on the improvements made under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Progress will only be significant enough to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) if leaders avoid the temptation to start from scratch. Many countries recognize this and are adapting existing strategies and repurposing the institutions that enabled MDG progress. Their challenge is to understand, prioritize and sustain what works and adjust initiatives that have stalled, while strengthening underlying capacities, mobilizing all possible resources and putting in motion the farsighted polices the SDGs require.

This Report seeks to help them by providing key lessons from the MDG era, distilled by governments and stakeholders themselves, through National MDG Progress Reports. Between 2013 and 2015, 55 countries produced National MDG Progress Reports assessing the totality of their countries’ MDG experience. Many detail lessons they now apply to implement the SDGs. Most echo lessons UNDP learned from its experience supporting over 140 countries to achieve the MDGs.