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Black and white photo of Thomas Hickmann. Photo.

Thomas Hickmann

Associate Professor | Associate Senior Lecturer

Black and white photo of Thomas Hickmann. Photo.

Success factors of global goal-setting for sustainable development : Learning from the Millennium Development Goals

Author

  • Thomas Hickmann
  • Frank Biermann
  • Matteo Spinazzola
  • Charlotte Ballard
  • Maya Bogers
  • Oana Forestier
  • Agni Kalfagianni
  • Rakhyun E. Kim
  • Francesco S. Montesano
  • Tom Peek
  • Carole Anne Sénit
  • Melanie van Driel
  • Marjanneke J. Vijge
  • Abbie Yunita
Show all

Summary, in English

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were an important precursor to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, identifying the conditions that made the MDGs successful enhances our understanding of global goal-setting and informs the global endeavour to achieve the SDGs. Drawing on a comprehensive review of 316 articles published between 2009 and 2018, we identify six factors that have enabled or hindered MDG implementation. Our analysis stresses the importance of path dependencies and shows that the MDGs catalysed changes only for those countries with sufficient resource availability, administrative capacity and economic development, as well as adequate support from external donors. National ownership and NGO pressure bolstered efforts to implement the MDGs. These findings suggest that globally agreed goals do not easily trickle down from the global to the national level. Thus, this article adopts a forward-looking perspective and draws key lessons for the current implementation of the SDGs in developing countries.

Department/s

  • Department of Political Science

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Pages

1214-1225

Publication/Series

Sustainable Development

Volume

31

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • 2030 agenda implementation
  • global goal-setting
  • global governance
  • MDGs
  • millennium development goals
  • SDGs
  • sustainable development goals

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0968-0802