Addressing inequalities: The
heart of the post-2015 agenda
and the future we want for all
Thematic Think Piece
ECE, ESCAP, UNDESA, UNICEF, UNRISD,
UN Women

The views expressed in this paper are those of the s igning agencies and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.
May 2012

2

Following on the outcome of the 2010 High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly
on the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nati ons Secretary-General established
the UN System Task Team in September 2011 to support UN system-wide preparations for
the post-2015 UN development agenda, in consultation with all stakeholders. The Task
Team is led by the Department of Economic and Social A ffairs and the United Nations
Development Programme and brings together senior expe rts from over 50 UN entities and
international organizations to provide system-wide s upport to the post-2015 consultation
process, including analytical input, expertise and outreac h.

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Addressing inequalities: The heart of the post-
2015 agenda and the future we want for all
“We have a collective responsibility to uphold the principl es of human dignity, equality and
equity at the global level. As leaders we have a duty therefor e to all the world’s people,
especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the chil dren of the world, to whom the future
belongs.”
1

–United Nations Millennium Declaration, Paragraph 2, 2000

1. Introduction
Nearly 12 years ago when world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, they made an
unprecedented commitment to create a more equal and just world, recognizing equality and
solidarity as essential to international relations i n the twenty-first century. The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), which emerged as practical and measurable articulation of the
Millennium Declaration, have enjoyed sustained intere st and support from governments,
the global development community, civil society and oth er stakeholders. Admirable
progress has been made in many areas. For example, i n aggregate terms, the global goal on
access to safe drinking water has been met five years ahead of schedule
2 and poverty rates
as well as the number of absolute poor have declined.
3

Despite many of the successes of the MDGs, they have n ot managed to integrate all
principles outlined in the Millennium Declaration, including equality. Furthermore, the
MDGs’ focus on national and global averages and progre ss can mask much slower progress
or even growing disparities at the sub-national leve l and among specific populations. To the
extent that accelerating progress towards some targe ts is easier when resources are
concentrated among the better off, the era of the M DGs may have inadvertently seen some
channeling of resources away from the poorest popula tion groups or from those that are
already at a disadvantage because of the effects of d iscrimination based on their gender,

1 General Assembly Resolution, A/RES/55/2, United Nations Mil lennium Declaration (New York, 2000)
2 United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization, Pro gress on Drinking Water and Sanitation
2012 Update (New York, 2012), available at: https://www.unic ef.org/media/files/JMPreport2012.pdf
3 World Bank, An update to the World Bank's estimates of consumption poverty in the developing world,
(Washington D.C., 2012) available at:
https://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVCALNET/Resources /Global_Poverty_Update_2012_02-29-12.pdf

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ethnicity, disability or residence. At the very least – and with the exception of the MDG 3
target on girls’ education — they have not given a cle ar enough incentive for policy-makers
to proactively address inequalities. Redressing such discrimination and inequalities will be
essential, if global opportunities for progress are to be shared by those most in need of its
benefits.
The availability of data disaggregated by wealth quint ile, sex and residence provides ample
evidence on how the combination of these factors has led to uneven progress towards
achieving the MDGs. Young children in the poorest hou seholds are 2-3 times as likely to die
4
or to be malnourished 5 as those in the best-off strata. For example, in India 60% of children
in households in the lowest wealth quintile are stu nted in comparison to 25% of children
belonging to the highest wealth quintile.
6 Progress in reducing stunting in this and other
countries has been fastest among better-off househo lds.
7 Stunting is the result of chronic
nutritional deficiencies in the first 1000 days of life and can result in lifelong impaired
physical and cognitive functionality.
Gender inequalities persist in many countries and conte xts. In terms of what is measured by
MDG targets and indicators, lower rates of secondary education enrolment (especially in
Oceania, Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Wester n Asia), significant under-
representation in national parliaments, wide gaps i n access to decent employment, and the
gendered nature of the HIV pandemic, all point to th e urgency of addressing gender
discrimination.
8 There has been least progress on MDG 5 to reduce mat ernal mortality, the
goal that most depends on achieving gender equality an d realizing women’s rights.
Inequalities and discrimination based on income, loc ation, disability and ethnicity intersect
with gender and are often mutually reinforcing. For example, there are many countries

4 United Nations Children’s Fund, Child Info: Disparities in Child Su rvival, accessed 25 April 2012:
https://www.childinfo.org/mortality_disparities.html
5 United Nations Children Fund, Interactive Site: Progress for Chi ldren: Achieving the MDGs with Equity,
accessed 25 April 2012 at: https://www.devinfo.info/pfc/mdg _1/3_mdg_1_underweight.html
6 United Nations Children’s Fund, India: Nutrition Country Profile, Chi ldinfo.org website,
accessed 12 April 2012 at: https://www.childinfo.org/files/nu trition/DI%20Profile%20-%20India.pdf
7 United Nations Children’s Fund, Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity; (New York, 2010),
available at: https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_55740.htm l

8 United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 (N ew York, 2011), available at:
https://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress 2011/11-
31339%20%28E%29%20MDG%20Report%202011_Book%20LR.pdf

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where the likelihood of having skilled assistance at childbirth, a critical basic service for
preventing maternal mortality and morbidity differs by m ore than 50 percentage points
between wealthy, urban women and poor, rural women.
9

Income inequality is also on the rise both within an d across countries, developed and
developing alike. Approximately two thirds of countri es with available data experienced an
increase in income inequality between 1990 and 2005, despite globally robust economic
growth.
10 A number of countries, both high and low income, ha ve experienced jobless
economic growth, with the result that those at the t op end of the income distribution have
benefited far more than those at the bottom.
11 For example, in the United States, a recent
study shows a growing wealth gap between ethnic grou ps. From 2005 to 2009, inflation-
adjusted median wealth fell by 66% among Hispanic ho useholds and 53% among African-
American households, compared with just 16% among white hous eholds.
12

2. Making the case: Addressing inequalities is in
everyone’s best interest
The obligation to address inequalities is born out of both international treaty standards and
human moral perspectives. One would be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks it is
acceptable that a child dies before his or her 5th birthday of a preventable disease; that a
mother dies giving birth simply because she did not h ave access to a skilled birth attendant;
or that any woman, man or child does not have access to potable water and food. However –
and especially in the current environment of fiscal a usterity – making the practical case for
focusing on the worst-off also involves showing that growing inequalities have negative
economic, social and political consequences.

9 UN Women, Gender Justice: Key to Achieving the Millennium D evelopment Goals, (New York, 2010), available
at: https://www.unwomen.org/publications/gender-justice-key-to-achievi ng-the-millennium-development-
goals/
10 Ferreira, F.H.G. and Ravallion, M., “Global Poverty a nd Inequality: A review of the evidence” World Bank
Policy Research Working Paper; Number 4623 (Washington D.C. , 2008), available at:
https://go.worldbank.org/6IH5WG8QF0
11 te Lintelo, D. (2011), Inequality and Social Justice Rou ndtable Consultation, MDG Achievement Fund, Institute
of Development Studies, available at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/fil es/dmfile/InequalityRoundtablereportFINAL.pdf
12 Pew Research Center, Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs B etween Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, (Washington
D.C., 2011), available at:
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/07/26/wealth-gaps-ris e-to-record-highs-between-whites-blacks-
hispanics/

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Firstly, human rights must represent the standard against which all policies, including
macroeconomic policies, are judged and held accounta ble, and not vice-versa. There are a
number of internationally long-established human righ ts principles that are particularly
pertinent to macroeconomic policies:
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· The obligation of progressive realization and non-re trogression – which means that
governments must move as expeditiously and effectively a s possible to realize
economic and social rights, and cannot take steps backward;
· Non-discrimination and equality – which means that governments have an
immediate obligation for ensuring that deliberate, t argeted measures are put into
place to secure substantive equality and that all ind ividuals have an equal
opportunity to enjoy their rights; and
· The principle of maximum available resources – which entails that a government,
even in the face of public revenue limitations, must us e the maximum resources
available to fulfill economic and social rights.

Secondly, however, increased inequalities are not just bad for the individuals thereby
disadvantaged, but for society as a whole. Highly uneq ual societies tend to grow more
slowly than those with low income inequalities, are less successful in sustaining growth
over long periods of time and recover more slowly from economic downturns.
1415 High
levels of inequalities can jeopardize the well-being of large segments of the population
through low earnings/wages and have subsequent effec ts on health, nutrition and child
development. Low earnings/wages mean lower effective a ggregate demand, which limits
the size of the domestic market and hinders structu ral change in the economy.
16 High levels
of inequalities may also be a significant structural factor in the origin and propulsion of

13 Balakrishnan, R. and Heintz, J. (2010), Making the Internation al Monetary Fund Accountable to Human Rights,
Huffington Post, available at:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/radhika-balakrishnan/making-the-inter national_b_549976.html
14 Chaudhuri, S. and M. Ravallion, M.(2006), “Partially Awake ned Giants: Uneven Growth in China and India”,
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, Number 4069, a vailable at:
https://www.wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2006 /11/17/000016406_2006111711
3609/Rendered/PDF/wps4069.pdf
15 Berg, A.G. and Ostry, J.D (2011), “Inequality and Unsusta inable Growth: Two Sides of the Same Coin?”, IMF
Staff Discussion Note; SDN/11/08, available at: https://www.i mf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2011/sdn1108.pdf
16 United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Comb ating Poverty and Inequality: Structural
Change, Social Policy and Politics (Geneva, 2010), avai lable at: https://www.unrisd.org/publications/cpi

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financial crises through the creation of various ‘bubbles’ and subsequent collapse of asset
values and demand which can destabilize the real eco nomy.
17 High levels of inequality also
reduce the impact of economic growth on poverty reduc tion.
18 Finally, crime, disease and
environmental problems are also found to be exacerbat ed by inequality. When inequality
and disparities reach extreme levels, they foment di scontent that can lead to political
instability and in some cases violence and conflict.
Keeping large numbers of people excluded, including from access to economic resources
and employment, health, adequate food, clean water and sanitation, education, skills and
technology, will result in a reduction of future pro ductive human potential. The post-2015
agenda needs to emphasize that there is a critical need to adequately and sustainably invest
in people – with a recognition that the greatest pot ential for the most dramatic gains
actually exists among those who are the worst off and most ex cluded.
19

Well designed and sustained investments in areas like maternal and child health, education
and social protection can pay major dividends, not j ust for individuals but for society. For
example, reducing child deaths by 4.25 per thousand children born (i.e. about 5%) to
mothers with low levels of education can result in a n almost 8% increase in Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) per capita ten years later.
20 In education, a one-year increase in the mean
years of schooling has been shown to be associated wi th a rise in per-capita income of 3-6%,
or a higher growth rate of 1 percentage point.
21 Conversely, no society can expect to achieve
sustained economic and social progress while signif icant numbers of its people –often
disproportionately its women and girls — are poorly nourished, in poor health and lack the
education and/or skills needed for their own and their famili es’ development.

17 Saith, A.(2011), “Inequality, imbalance, instability: Ref lections on a structural crisis”, Development and
Change, 42:1, available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467 -7660.2011.01705.x
18 United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Comb ating Poverty and Inequality: Structural
Change, Social Policy and Politics (Geneva, 2010), avai lable at: https://www.unrisd.org/publications/cpi
19 United Nations Children’s Fund, Narrowing the Gaps to Meet the Goa ls: A special report on a new study by
UNICEF shows that an equity-focused approach to child surviv al and development is the most practical and cost-
effective way of meeting the health Millennium Development Goal s for children (New York, 2010), available at:
https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Narrowing_the_Gaps_to_Mee t_the_Goals_090310_2a.pdf

20 Grimm, M., “Does inequality in health impede growth?”, ISS Working Papers; General Series 501,
International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University (The Hague; 2010), available at:
https://hdl.handle.net/1765/19426
21 Sianesi, B., and Van Reenen, J., The Returns to Education: A Review of the Empirical Macroeconomic
Literature, The Institute for Fiscal Studies, (London, 2002), available at:
https://www.ifs.org.uk/wps/wp0205.pdf

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In sum, economic and political instability as well as deterioration in social relations, health
outcomes and human capital negatively affect all citiz ens from the poorest to the richest,
while investments in social services and social prot ection that are inclusive of the most
deprived can strengthen and lengthen periods of devel opment progress, economic growth,
peace and prosperity. Addressing inequalities is in everyon e’s best interest.

3. Addressing inequalities in the post-2015
development agenda: Equality of opportunities
and of outcomes
Addressing inequalities in the post-2015 development agenda means looking at both
equality of opportunities (or lack thereof), and ent renched structural factors, including
discrimination, all of which effect equality of outco mes. Most of the world’s poor people
occupy highly disadvantaged starting positions, which impede the development of their
capabilities (as defined by Amartya Sen and others) as well as their ability to capitalize on
opportunities. Focusing only on the symptoms and manif estations of poverty or exclusion
(e.g. lack of income, education or health), rather than their structural causes (e.g.
discrimination, lack of access to resources, lack of representation), has often led to narrow,
discretionary measures aimed at addressing short-term needs. Without attention to the
underlying economic, social, cultural and spatial ca uses of poverty and inequality, the post-
2015 development agenda will not help level the playing field or achieve lasting inclusive
progress. Potential policy instruments to address st ructural factors and produce greater
equality of outcomes include:

· Macroeconomic policies to ensure that sufficient, p roductive and decent
employment is created to absorb new entrants into t he labour force, provide jobs
for the unemployed and reduce vulnerable forms of empl oyment (in which women
and young people are concentrated);
· Legislative reform and its implementation to address discriminatory and
exclusionary practices as well as recourse mechanisms for disadvantaged groups
and individuals to claim their rights;

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· Income and social policies (e.g. registration/prote ction of informal work, effective
compliance with legislation on minimum wage and ant i-discrimination, state
support for smallholder agriculture, etc.) to ensur e that labour is properly
compensated in a largely globalized economy where its bargaining power has been
reduced through informalization and liberalization;
· Widely accessible and good quality basic services for investing in people, their
growth and capabilities, education, health, food, housing and social security;
· Social protection programmes to protect not only again st sharp declines in income
due to contingencies (illness, old age, disasters, market risks, etc.) but also
persistently low incomes and their structural causes . (Note: The decision on
whether to target social protection programmes narro wly to the poor or provide
broad based assistance will depend largely on the co untry or sub-national context.
The former may be a practical stepping stone towards ensuring that all have access
to at least minimum set of social welfare measures);
· Access to information and knowledge to overcome barri ers to political and social
participation and to accessing services and proactive policies and sustained social
communication to influence social norms that perpetu ate discrimination and
exclusion;
· Widely accessible and good quality infrastructure, do mestic technology and care
services to support the (re)production of labour and to reduce the unpaid care
work disproportionately undertaken by women and girls
22
· Wealth/income redistribution through land reform, g ender- and child-responsive
budgeting, adequate corporate taxation and progress ive income taxation, pro-poor
fiscal and trade policies, and development assistanc e to finance widely accessible
social provisions.

22 United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Why Care Matters for Social Development,
Research and Policy Brief, Number 9 (Geneva, 2010), a vailable at:
https://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/%28httpPublications%29/256 97FE238192066C12576D4004CF
E50?OpenDocument

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4. Addressing inequalities through the use of goals,
targets and indicators
The purpose of this paper is not to pre-empt the co nsultative process that will be needed to
come to a concrete set of goals, targets and indica tors for post-2015. However, the
consensus of the Post-2015 UN Task Team is that a s et of goals, targets and indicators
backed by and embedded in a normative framework (i.e. the Millennium Declaration and
the related, wider international human rights archi tecture) is desirable. Goals and the
strategies to pursue them should be rooted in human rig hts principles and standards, which
in turn should influence the identification of spec ific development outcomes that drive the
rights for all.

Additionally, we must avoid having a “wish list” of goa ls, targets and indicators that
attempts to cover any and all development issues. An o verly complicated framework runs
the high risk of collapsing under its own weight –b eing incomprehensible to government
officials and ordinary citizens alike — and ultimat ely forgotten. Instead, goals, targets and
indicators should be carefully considered and select ed so that they most effectively and
powerfully address inequalities and the factors perpetuat ing them.

Whilst avoiding being prescriptive on specific goals, targets and indicators, it is still useful
to point to ideas and methodologies for how inequal ities could be appropriately addressed
in the post-2015 agenda. The options listed below a re not mutually exclusive and will
require further debate and discussion with a wide r ange of stakeholders over the next
several months and beyond as the process for constru cting the post-2015 development
agenda gets underway.
· A specific goal on inequality: Inequality being refl ected at the “goals level” gives the
issue more prominence. There are questions, however, on what would be the best
targets and indicators. Much thinking thus far cent ers on targets and indicators that
get at income inequality –e.g. Gini Coefficient is of ten mentioned but other
indicators might include functional distribution of income (wages vs. profits);
existence of minimum wage, and social protection pro visions, etc. While income is a

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strong predictor of human development outcomes, higher income does not
systematically translate into better access to health , education and nutrition or
participation in political or social life. A focus on intersecting inequalities makes
clear that economic, social, political and spatial i nequalities have cumulative,
mutually-reinforcing effects that contribute to the systematic disadvantage of some
social groups such as youth, older persons, indigeno us persons, minorities, persons
with disabilities and migrants. Such a focus also req uires recognition that gender
inequality cross-cuts all other forms of inequality, exacerb ating their impact.

· Reflecting inequality in other goals: Another or comp lementary option is to focus on
the dominant inequalities across individual human deve lopment indicators such as
child mortality, nutrition, maternal mortality, educa tion, access to water&sanitation
etc. and establish sub-national targets, which shou ld include sex, income/wealth,
and rural-urban disaggregation for all indicators a nd targets. In addition,
disaggregation of reported data could capture other factors, including ethnicity and
disability, depending on the inequalities that are mo st prevalent in each area.

One methodology garnering some attention calls for e quity-weighting indicators.
That is, to weigh values of each variable of concern by income quintile, according
more importance to progress in the lower quintiles.
23 In this scenario, progress
would be measured not just in absolute numbers, but with a specific focus on and
prioritization of those who are most excluded. A si milar method could be applied to
weigh progress across different social groups or th rough different regions.

Somewhat related to the idea of equity weighting, wou ld be the option to have
specific targets for progress among the poorest or most excluded. That is, progress
among the poorest [or most excluded] groups is measur ed and reported separately,
to ensure that they are benefitting from overall prog ress.
24 The MDG target on girls’
education provides an example and precedent for this approac h.

23 Vandemoortele, J. and Delamonica, E., “Taking the MDGs Bey ond 2015: Hasten Slowly”, IDS Bulletin, 41:1
(Brighton, 2010), available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j. 1759-5436.2010.00105.x
24 Melamed, C., Putting Inequality in the Post-2015 Picture, Ov erseas Development Institute (London, 2012),
available at: https://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id= 6340&title=inequality-post-2015-mdgs

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· Gender equality as a specific goal and mainstreamed a cross other goals:
Gender equality has long been recognized as both a co re human right and
development goal. In addition, discrimination against women has been proven to
impair the achievement of all other development goals , and to worsen and deepen
the impact on women of the other forms of discriminat ion to which they are
subjected. These are reasons to support the option that the post-2015 agenda both
directly addresses the challenge of gender inequalit y in itself, as well as the need to
advance gender equality across all relevant dimension s of the agenda. To be
effective, a goal on gender equality should include a much wider set of indicators
and targets than MDG 3 currently does.
25

· Absolute/universal targets: Under this option, goals and targets would be framed in
terms of universal access or coverage, or through probl em elimination. That is, none
of the goals — whether on education, poverty, hunger , mortality or other — could be
considered met without reaching zero or near-zero t argets.
26 This approach,
however, would need to find ways to address the risk of the very worst-off
continually being “left to the last.”

Regardless of format, setting targets that address inequalities requires substantial
investment in disaggregated data collection, data an alysis and use. While current
international household surveys such as Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple
Indicator Cluster Surveys provide a rich vein of informa tion, they require greater
investment in national capacity for disaggregated ana lysis of the data collected, and
possibly more extensive sampling to cover highly deprived populations. Furthermore, it is
long overdue to develop large-scale data collection m ethodologies that go beyond
household level analysis, in order to capture gender inequality, particularly in relation to
income and control over resources within households.

25 For example: The UN Millennium Project Taskforce on MDG 3 recommended that the goal should include
targets on seven strategic areas: Post-primary education (inclu ding secondary school, but also other kinds of
non-formal education); sexual and reproductive rights and health; investment in infrastructure; property and
inheritance rights; employment; seats in national parliaments and local governments; and ending violence
against women. See https://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/ Gender-complete.pdf

26 McCarthur, J. et al; Getting to Zero: Finishing the Job the MDGs Started; Global Agenda Council on
Benchmarking Progress convened by the World Economic Foru m, draft from 17 April 2012, available at:
https://post2015.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/getting-to-zero-final-dr aft-20120417-11.pdf

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Household sample surveys could be complemented by greater community-level locally-led
monitoring. This could help better capture data on people not addressed in household
surveys such as children living outside of family struc tures. Social media and other new
tools are already being used extensively for this purp ose. New technologies hold the
promise of greatly widening civic participation in the monitoring of development goals – set,
acted on and owned locally as well as sub-nationally and natio nally.

Finally, and especially from the perspective of inequa lities, measurement and measurability
must be seen as a servant, rather than a master, of the post-2015 agenda. Many have
identified the format of the MDG agenda as one of it s key strengths. However, it is also
critical to note that the MDG format served to effecti vely exclude some key issues from the
development agenda that had been explicitly highlight ed in the Millennium Declaration,
such as ending violence against women and implementin g the Convention on the
Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Wome n (CEDAW). The format’s
ostensibly neutral technical standard of measurabili ty served an inappropriate political
function by de-prioritizing some of the issues whose importance had been given great
emphasis through global inter-governmental agreements . There seems to have been a
fundamental misunderstanding about the relationship between the inequalities and
discrimination that may exist in a country, and nation al priorities for data collection. Where
a group of people is socially undervalued, or chronic human rights violations are not being
recognized by the State, the relevant data will, corre spondingly, not be systematically
collected.
There can therefore be a direct inverse relationship between the availability of comparable
data across countries, and the seriousness of the d evelopment challenge that needs to be
addressed. Goals and targets at the global level sh ould be a balanced reflection of the
priorities that have received intergovernmental endors ement, including through near-
universal ratification of treaties. To enable this r esponsible prioritization, a suitably flexible
standard of measurement must be adopted, that captu res, tracks and reflects the dominant
inequalities which the development process needs to address a nd overcome.

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5. Addressing inequalities through transformational
change
Putting the significant and sustained reduction of inequalities and their causes on the post-
2015 compass will generate debate and action. It wi ll also realign the agenda with the
original concept of the Millennium Declaration and will hold governments accountable to
foster development that is inclusive and non-discrimi natory. However, setting an inequality
goal or inequality targets and indicators alone will not necessarily help level the playing
field. Addressing discrimination and the other struc tural and underlying causes of poverty
and inequality would also imply measures for transformationa l change such as:

· Placing greater emphasis on inclusive, sustainable a nd pro-poor economic growth
and on the creation of decent work. For example, th e post-2015 development
agenda should include concrete commitments on the na ture of economic growth
and additional commitments on productive employment, su ch as those emerging
from the ILO decent work agenda;
· Having tools to assess, monitor and manage the impac t of a broad set of policies
(including economic policies) on economic, social and cultural rights. For example,
the post-2015 development agenda could establish mec hanisms (e.g. social impact
assessments) to monitor the social impacts of a bro ad set of policies and strategies,
ex ante, to reduce negative social impacts and enhance posit ive outcomes;
· Decentralization and participation. Federal governm ents often struggle to set
national development policies that promote social ju stice, as there is often less
political capital to be gained in investing in margin alized, remote and poor districts
of provinces. Strengthening the capacity of local and municipal governments to
provide essential services and commodities and apply lo cal solutions has the merit
of not only bringing international goals to local pe ople, but also fostering their
participation and shared responsibility and ability to exercise accountability in goal-
setting and achievement. It may be a particularly usef ul solution in contexts where
data at the national level may be missing or incomplete. This se lf-determination, and
the participation of all groups in political proces ses is not only a key principle of a

15
human rights-based approach, it may also be a key factor in helping to make the
post-2015 framework more relevant at the local, municipal o r sub-national level;
· Strengthening governance. It is no coincidence that t he countries furthest behind on
the MDGs are often those where governance is weakest – including conflict and
post-conflict countries — and where the rule of la w most difficult to apply. Measures
to foster development and social justice must prioriti ze building government
capacity at all levels, with a far stronger focus als o on developing the capacities of
local government and administrators in partnership with civi l society;
· Accountability and transparency. A major omission of the MDGs was the lack of a
mechanism for citizens to hold governments accountabl e for progress towards
development goals in their nationally-adapted formul ation. While some
governments incorporated the MDGs in national developme nt objectives — and
allocated resources and monitoring capacity accordin gly — others did not.
Mechanisms should be established for civil society gr oups to both participate in the
setting of priorities, strategies and allocation of resources and in the monitoring of
disaggregated goals and targets – including at distr ict and municipal level – and for
them to hold governments to account.

6. Concluding remarks
Addressing inequality alongside human rights, peace, security and sustainability should be
the cornerstone of the post-2015 agenda. A more incl usive and equal society is more likely
to be sustainable. Having better access to quality education a nd health services, housing and
clean water, land, financing and judicial recourse means that poor and excluded people can
become better equipped to contribute to economic gr owth, care for their children and
embrace newer low-carbon approaches to production and cons umption.

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UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda
Membership
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Co-Chair
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Co-Chair
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Department of Public Information (DPI)
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESC AP)
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG)
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (F AO)
Global Environment Facility (GEF)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS)
Office of the Deputy Secretary-General (ODSG)
Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Office of the High Representative for the Least Dev eloped Countries, Landlocked Developing
Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS)
Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (OSAA)
Peace building Support Office (PBSO)
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

17
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orga nization (UNESCO)
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment o f Women (UN Women)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC)
United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP )
United Nations Global Compact Office
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reducti on (UNISDR)
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
United Nations Millennium Campaign
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refu gees in the Near East (UNRWA)
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (U NRISD)
United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordinat ion Secretariat (CEB)
United Nations University (UNU)
United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
World Bank
World Food Programme (WFP)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Trade Organization (WTO)