As the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) draws closer the formal processes and discussions to decide on what replaces them are well underway.

Since the original goals were established the world is a less economically, socially and environmentally secure place. Any new post 2015 development framework needs to take account of these new levels of interrelated insecurities in an integrated way.

IDS researchers across the Vulnerability, Poverty Reduction, Globalisation, Knowledge Technology and Society and Participation, Power and Social Change teams and the IDS based STEPS centre are examining how we can accelerate progress towards the current MDGs, while also establishing a new framework for development which responds to the critical changes that have taken place since the MDGs were first adopted.

IDS research is seeking to contribute to the process of ensuring that the development of a new post-2015 framework is based on sound evidence and designed and implemented in an inclusive way. In the run up to the high-level panel meeting and MDG Summit in 2013, IDS will be working with global partners to produce new research and convene policy debates that will seek to inform and shape thinking on what comes after the MDGs. 

IDS work around the MDGs aims to address some of the fundamental questions surrounding the creation of a post 2015 development framework, including:

• What can we learn from the creation and implementation of the original MDGs?
• Where will the world’s poor live in the future and what does this mean for goals that aim to tackle global poverty?
• How do we ensure that the post Rio +20 ambition to create a set of Sustainable Development Goals and the MDG agenda are integrated?
• Who decides on what is included in any new framework and how do we make sure that the voices of the poorest and hardest to reach are heard?
• What role do the private sector and private foundations have to play in developing a new post 2015 agenda?

Current projects and work

The IDS based STEPS centre is currently undertaking work around aligning the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS ) and post 2015 framework processes, and there are a number of ongoing activities and resources available. The STEPS Centre was actively involved in the Rio+20 conference, where IDS Fellow and STEPS Centre Director was a participant in the highl level dialogue on sustainability.

Fellows in the Participation, Power and Social Change team are leading the Participate: Knowledge from the margins intiative. The project has been established to ensure that the most vulnerable and marginalised communities have the opportunity to shape post-2015 policymaking and that a future global framework reflects the priorities of those directly affected by poverty and injustice.

Fellows in the Globalisation team have also been examining the role of businesses and private foundations in developing a new post 2015 framework and also how it will be financed.