Moving Forward with the SDGs: Implementation Challenges in Developing Countries

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    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect an ambitious development objective with a transformative vision. The new development agenda makes for a holistic developmental framework. Experts are forecasting that the new agenda could achieve more than its predecessor, the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The SDGs bring enormous opportunities, but also immense challenges for developing countries around the world. Keeping this in view the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) conducted a study titled Moving forward with the SDGs: Implementation challenges in developing countries in collaboration with the Southern Voice on Post-MDG International Development Goals and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

    This study identifies five key challenges of implementing the SDGs in developing countries: integrating the SDGs into national, sub-national and local-level development plans; establishing an institutional architecture that can deliver the development agenda; mobilising adequate financial and other resources; realising a “data revolution” with regard to monitoring and evaluation; and developing partnerships by creating platforms for multi-stakeholder participation.

    Delivering the ambitious targets of the SDGs will necessitate the mobilisation of a substantial amount of domestic and foreign resources. Effective institutions and good governance have become critical for mobilising domestic resources and curbing illicit financial outflows. At the country-level, the governments alone cannot implement the SDGs and a multi-stakeholder approach will be necessary. The role of civil society organisations providing a voice to the marginalised sections in the implementation and review process is well understood, but how the private sector will engage itself is not always obvious.

    Authors: Debapriya Bhattacharya, Towfiqul Islam Khan, Umme Shefa Rezbana and Lam-Ya Mostaque

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