Moving From MDGs to SDGs: Prospects and Challenges for OIC Member Countries
Date: 06 January 2017

The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) officially came into effect in January 2016 at the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is an ambitious and universal agenda to support a sustainable future for the humankind by integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions of development.

At this transitional phase, the OIC Member Countries are taking stock of their MDGs performance to reflect on lessons learned for the SDGs era. Based on their previous MDGs performance, it is clear that Millennium Development agenda is an unfinished business in many OIC Countries where serious developmental issues related with poverty, employment, education, health and environment remained important priorities to be addressed.

Given the broad scope of 2030 Agenda, transition from MDGs to SDGs is a complex matter for all countries. In this regard, OIC Countries need to build on the lessons learned from their experience in implementing the MDGs to address the new demands and opportunities offered by the SDGs. The successful planning and implementation of SDGs also demands a renewed strong commitment among the governments and all other relevant stakeholders–civil society, private sector, academia and multilateral development partners–to work together and seek synergies.

This report aims to contribute towards the national and regional efforts to spearhead successful transition of the OIC Countries to the ambitious global agenda for sustainable development by investigating their MDGs achievements and reviewing prospects and challenges for the implementation of SDGs.The report consists of five sections.

After the introductory Section 1, it takes stock of MDGs performance of OIC Countries by looking into the latest available statistics on selected targets of MDGs in Section 2. The Section 3 discusses the transition from MDGs to SDGs by highlighting the relationship between MDGs and SDGs. It also provides a detailed analysis of lessons learned from the implementation of MDGs in OIC Countries to draw a broad sketch of their readiness for SDGs era. The Section 4 analysis the prospects and challenges for the implementation of SDGs in OIC Countries by evaluating their ability to integrate and mainstream the SDGs in their national policies and plans; develop institutional mechanisms for coordination, management and implementation of SDGs; enhance capacities of national statistical agencies to produce necessary data for effective monitoring and evaluation of the progress; identify and channelize adequate financial resources for the implementation of SDGs; and involve all stakeholders–government authorities, academics and civil society organisations–in planning, implementation and monitoring of SDGs. The report concludes with remarks on some major findings in the Section 5.

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