310 40. The Sustainable Development Goals Denison Jayasooria and Ilcheong Yi INTRODUCTION The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2000‒2015) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2015‒30) illustrate that we are one global human family. We are intercon- nected. Issues of poverty, ill health and natural disasters have an impact directly or indirectly on all the people and nations of the world. Today, the SDGs represent the global development agenda. Governments have the primary responsibility for implementing the SDGs, and ensuring follow-up and review over the coming 8 years, at the national, regional and global levels. However, according to SDG 17, which concerns partnerships, there is also a place for all stakeholders (government, business, academia, civil society and local community) to play a role. This entry, after a brief summary of the global development agenda, explains the relation- ship between SDGs and the social and solidarity economy (SSE) principles and models to illustrate the compatibility of the two, and showcases the SSE as a community-based strategy for the effective localising of the SDGs. 40.1 FROM THE MDGS (2000–2015) TO THE SDGS (2015–30) The global development agenda between 2000 and 2015 was entitled the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It was a set of eight development goals and applied only to the developing world. It had a strong emphasis on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, along- side a focus on addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. It also aimed to achieve universal primary education. Two other development agendas were: combating diseases including HIV/Aids and malaria, and ensuring environmental sustainability. These were envisioned as possible with global partnership, especially regarding financing for development of poor developing nations. The assessment of the implementation of the MDGs revealed that while there was progress made by some countries, there were major gaps in the development agenda, as well as the delivery. This matter was the subject of the conversation at the Rio Plus 20 Summit on sus- tainable development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 20 to 22 June 2012. At the end of the Summit, a consensus document was released entitled the ‘Future We Want’ which provided a global common vision (United Nations 2012). The Summit also established a High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), and a global consultation process was instituted by engaging major groups and stakeholders in formulating the post-MDG global development agenda. Rio rec- ognised the critical need for political leadership to ensure that the next 15-year agenda had a greater impact in addressing global concerns. Denison Jayasooria and Ilcheong Yi - 9781803920924 Downloaded from https://www.elgaronline.com/ at 11/27/2023 07:14:53PM via Open Access. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/