Global poverty reduction to 2015 and beyond: what has been the impact of the MDGs and what are the options for a post-2015 global framework?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the policy impact of the MDGs and to begin to ask questions about any post-2015 global framework. The paper asks a series of questions and, in doing so, reviews the impact of the MDGs on policy and outcomes. The paper argues that the MDGs have had substantial but uneven policy impacts and post-2015 a more explicit and shared ownership of both South and North in any new deal is essential, as is attention to a changed world compared with that of the late 1990s. We outline three stylised options for a post-2015 framework in order to trigger further debate and propose that debate be led by a global commission.