On the cusp of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) deadline, a Post-2015 High-Level Panel assembled to build upon the progress that has been made and chart a new global roadmap to eradicate some of the gravest threats to human development. Stressing the need for further integration, the High-Level Panel intends to drive its “universal” agenda forward using five “transformative shifts:” 1: leave no one behind, 2: put sustainable development at the core, 3: transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth, 4: build peace and effective, open, and accountable institutions for all, and 5: forge a new global partnership.1
Originally, the MDG agenda set a 2015 deadline for the world to meet the following objectives:
1: Eradicate poverty and hunger,
2: Achieve universal primary education,
3: Promote gender equality and empower women, 4: Reduce child mortality,
5: Improve maternal health,
6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, 7: Ensure environmental sustainability, and
8: Establish a global partnership.
Although the High-Level Panel expanded gender-based targets and indicators for the Post-2015 Agenda, this brief examines the MDG progress made to date through a gendered lens to inform future policies, priority-setting, and evaluation. Women and girls “still comprise the majority of the world’s unhealthy, unfed, and unpaid,”2 yet the consequences of this fact extend far beyond women and girls. The maximum productive potential of any given country is also reduced and the impact is felt throughout societies for generations.