The Global Goals for Sustainable Development, which will define the global development agenda for the next 15 years, were formally adopted at a United Nations summit in September 2015. The SDGs will, to a significant degree, drive the allocation of global resources and determine policy priorities between now and 2030 on a range of important issues—including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

A new analysis published in the Guttmacher Policy Review lays out the historical context and significance of the SDG process for SRHR. The analysis also calls on governments and other stakeholders to embrace the SDGs and lays out various indicators that can be used at the global and national levels to measure progress toward achieving goals related to SRHR—and even to advance SRHR beyond what is outlined in the new development goals.

“It’s significant that sexual and reproductive health and rights issues are now recognized explicitly and from the outset as integral to the achievement of the SDGs, since that was not the case with the previous iteration of global development goals,” says Alanna J. Galati, author of the new analysis. “The next hurdle is to ensure that countries adopt, adapt to and commit to these global goals.”

The SDGs consist of 17 goals and 169 targets to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and rights, and protect the environment. One key issue is measuring progress to guide implementation of the SDGs and verify their success. The UN Statistical Commission will formally approve a global monitoring framework, including a set of indicators, for the SDGs, in March 2016.

Read the full article at Guttmacher Institute’s webiste HERE.

Source: Guttmacher Institute