Afrique

17 Goals for People, for Planet.

By Ananthu Anilkumar and Simone Galimberti
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Nov 25 2025 (IPS)

Less than five years from 2030 it is time for the international community to confront the future of the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals.

The SDGs turned what was a generic declaration into a tangible and actionable blueprint.

As ample evidence shows, so far, the implementation of the SDGs have been a tremendous disappointment with all the goals being off the track.

Recent UN assessments show how far the world is from meeting the SDGs. Only 16 to 17 % of targets are on track. Out of 137 targets with available data, about 35% show on track or moderate progress, 47% show marginal or no progress, and 18% have moved backwards since 2015.

Some of the most urgent areas are among the furthest off track, including Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Sustainable Cities (SDG 11), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15), and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16).

Weak institutional commitments, poor coordination, the failure to integrate SDGs into budgets and policies, and the voluntary nature of reporting have all held back progress. At the same time, breaches of planetary boundaries tied to climate and biosphere integrity threaten the conditions needed for sustainable development.

Even where gains exist, such as in education and disease reduction, they remain slow and fragile. The data is clear. The world is not on course for 2030.

As the world edges toward 2030, these conversations can no longer be postponed. The SDGs did more than outline global aspirations. They created a shared language for justice, dignity, and sustainability. They shaped policy debates and mobilized public attention in ways the development field had not seen before, even if governments often ignored the direction they set.

Yet the SDGs have served an important, we would say, indispensable purpose to the international community even if states wasted it.

First, the SDGs functioned not only as a springboard for action but also as an accountability tool
to keep a check on states’ commitments towards achieving a world without poverty, inequalities and deprivations while guaranteeing a greener, more sustainable and just economic framework.’
Unfortunately, leadership never matched the ambition of the goals.

Many governments failed to translate the SDGs into national and regional strategies capable of real impact.

Least developed countries lacked financial resources and effective institutions, with weak governance, corruption, and mismanagement limiting their ability to plan and implement reforms.

At the same time, wealthier nations refused to scale up development cooperation to levels required for transformative progress.

In short, both governments in the Global South and Global North are complicit in avoiding fulfilling their duties towards the present next generations.

As much as this absence of stewardship towards the people and the planet has been a moral disaster, the international community has enough time to frame a different formula to ensure that whatever will come after the expiration of the Agenda 2030 will be a success.

This loss of momentum reflects more than technical shortcomings.

It shows how fragile political will has been, especially in a model built around voluntary participation. The SDGs lost traction because governments were free to treat them as optional. The gap between aspiration and action became a moral failure as well as a governance one.

Let’s remind ourselves that the launch of the SDGs had started with a “boom”. There was a visible, contagious enthusiasm and everyone was interested to know more about the Agenda 2030.

Notwithstanding the complex negotiations at the UN Secretariat first with the Open Working Group and then with the Intergovernamental Negotiations that followed, there was a vibrant participation of non state actors.

Civil society organizations and global advocacy networks were deeply involved in shaping the SDGs. Their expertise, campaigning, and coordination helped bring local realities, social justice concerns, and thematic priorities into the negotiation rooms.

Then, there was a period, in the aftermath of 2015 when the document was endorsed after three years of negotiations, in which talking about the SDGs was very trendy and on the top of the agenda not only for governments but also for non-state actors, from civil society organizations to universities to corporate players.

That passion soon vanished and there are many reasons for this, including the rise of climate change as a threat to our planet, a phenomenon of paramount importance but somehow overshadowed other important policy agenda.

What will be next?

In 2027 the UN will formally start a conversation about the future of the Agenda 2030.
How to shape the conversation that will lead to a revised framework?

In the months and years ahead, assuring the same level of involvement and participation will be important but not enough. Civil society inputs and contributions must evolve into a broader, more democratic process that moves beyond representation by established organizations.

Communities who live the consequences of global policies every day must be able to shape the next framework directly. Should we start imagining a revamped roadmap that will enable Planet Earth to decarbonize where inequalities are wiped out and where every child will have a chance to have quality health and meaningful educational pathways?

The negotiations that led to the SDGs were contentious and complex in such a way that some of the goals were more the results of internal bargains and trade-offs among governments at the UN rather than genuine attempts to solve policy issues.

Certainly, while brainstorming for the next agenda, the global oversight system of the SDGs will be put into discussion.

Rather than the current model centered on the High-Level Political Forum where, on rotation some goals are discussed and where nations at their complete will voluntarily share their reports, what in jargon is called National Voluntary Reviews, it would be much more effective to have a model resembling the Universal Periodic Reviews applied at the Human Rights Council.

States should mandatorily present updates of their work in implementing the next generation of the SDGs and if we are serious about creating a better world, such reviews should happen annually.

Localization must also become central rather than optional. The localization of the SDGs should also be formally adopted and mainstreamed in the official playbook, prompting local governments to play their parts.

Some have already been doing that but it is a tiny minority and often such a process of localization happens without engagement and involvement of local communities.

This must change in such a way to truly empower local communities to have an ownership over local planning and decision making in matters of sustainable and equitable development.

True localization requires building formal pathways for community participation and ensuring that subnational institutions shape priorities. People closest to the issues should help define the solutions.

Without local ownership, global frameworks remain abstract and ineffective.

While some local governments have aligned their work with SDG priorities, most of these efforts remain isolated and disconnected from the communities they are meant to serve.

Localizing the next Agenda offers an opportunity to democratize the future of the goals.
Development cannot be sustainable when local voices are excluded from planning and decision making.

These and other propositions should be up for debate and review in the months and years ahead.

We do hope that experts and policy makers will discuss in detail ways to strengthen the future development agenda, building on the lessons that led first to the establishment of the SDGs and also leaning on the experiences that are still being made on their implementation.

At the start of the discussions on “what’s next”, we do believe that young people should have a big and real say.

Involving young people and enabling them to have agency in contributing to the future of the Agenda 2030 is one of the best guarantees that the new governance related to the future goals will be stronger and more inclusive.

Imagine youths lab around the world starting the conversation about the post Agenda 2030 scenarios.

How can the goals be strengthened?

Capacity building of students could also become an opportunity to open up the decision making on one of the most important agendas of our time.

Imagine youths’ assemblies and forums to discuss and ideate the future global development goals. Such exercise should not become the traditional top down approach designed and backed by donor agencies like in the past.

Rather it can embed more radical and ambitious principles of grassroots level deliberative democracy and shared decision making.

One thing is certain: without a profound acceleration, the current trends in implementing the SDGs will not shift.

Realistically speaking, it is highly probable that we will reach the 2030 with an abysmal record of accomplishment in terms of realizing the Agenda 2030.

The international community can avoid such shameful outcomes while designing a post 2030 framework.

There is still time to design an agenda that is accountable, inclusive, and grounded in lived experience. But this requires listening to those who will inherit the consequences of today’s decisions.

The next framework can be drastically different if young people, rather than diplomats and government officials, will meaningfully own the process.

The young generations should not only lead in the designing of a new “Global Sustainable Development Deal” but also have a say and voice into its implementation.

Only then, governments at all levels will take the job of ensuring a future for humanity seriously.

Ananthu Anilkumar writes on human rights, development cooperation, and global governance. Simone Galimberti writes about the SDGs, youth-centered policy-making and a stronger and better United Nations.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Die Houston Rockets schlagen die Phoenix Suns deutlich. Clint Capela kommt dabei zu viel Spielzeit.

Bei einem Anlass hat sich Thomas Gottschalk genervt über Fragen zu seinem fragwürdigen Auftritt beim «Bambi» geäussert. Der 75-jährige Moderator kündigt dennoch seinen baldigen Rückzug aus dem TV-Geschäft an.

Patriots for Europe dangle support for a third Metsola term, Europe holds its nerve on Ukraine as a new US peace draft buys time, and Howard Lutnick offers steel tariff relief in exchange for Brussels rolling back its digital rulebook

Milorad Dodik a sauvé les meubles en faisant élire son candidat, Siniša Karan, à la présidence de la Republika Srpska. Mais avec un score étriqué et entaché d'accusations de fraude, il est bien bien loin du plébiscite escompté. L'opposition ne reconnaît pas le résultat mais fait le service minimum. Analyse.

- Articles / Bosnie-Herzégovine, RS sécession, Politique, Courrier des Balkans, Une - Diaporama - En premier, Une - Diaporama

Milorad Dodik a sauvé les meubles en faisant élire son candidat, Siniša Karan, à la présidence de la Republika Srpska. Mais avec un score étriqué et entaché d'accusations de fraude, il est bien bien loin du plébiscite escompté. L'opposition ne reconnaît pas le résultat mais fait le service minimum. Analyse.

- Articles / Bosnie-Herzégovine, RS sécession, Politique, Courrier des Balkans, Une - Diaporama - En premier, Une - Diaporama

‘Only the companies truly know, and they exploit this to pit countries against each other’, French MP Hendrik Davi writes

Vincent Bolloré’s is helping the far right establish a powerful foothold in a sector traditionally defined by political moderation

Oslo, and Norwegian voters, are growing impatient with backing up Europe's energy transition

The need to improve intelligence capacity is undeniable. But von der Leyen’s chosen method reflects a familiar instinct: using crisis logic to expand the Commission’s authority

Em 24 de novembro de 2025, o presidente do Conselho Europeu, António Costa, participou na Cimeira União Europeia-União Africana em Luanda, Angola.

Remarks by President António Costa following the informal EU Leaders’ meeting of 24 November 2025 in Luanda

Em 24 de novembro de 2025, o presidente do Conselho Europeu, António Costa, participou na Cimeira União Europeia-União Africana em Luanda, Angola.

Remarks by President António Costa following the informal EU Leaders’ meeting of 24 November 2025 in Luanda

Europe can still compete in Central Asia’s minerals race – but only if it backs ESG promises with swift, strategic action

Le Professeur James Robinson, co-lauréat du Prix Nobel d'économie 2024, est déjà à Cotonou dans le cadre des Journées Scientifiques de l'Economie Béninoise (JSEB) 2025.

Sous le thème « Institutions et Prospérité des Nations », les JSEB 2025 se tiendront à l'hôtel Golden Tulip-Le Diplomate les 27 et 28 novembre et offriront un espace unique de dialogue entre chercheurs, étudiants, décideurs et partenaires techniques.
L'événement bénéficie du soutien du PNUD, partenaire officiel avec la participation du Professeur James Robinson, co-lauréat du Prix Nobel d'économie 2024.

Économiste et politologue de renom, James Robinson dirige l'Institut Pearson à l'Université de Chicago et occupe la chaire Richard L. Pearson. Ses travaux, en collaboration avec Daron Acemoglu, ont révolutionné la compréhension des liens entre institutions politiques et prospérité des sociétés, notamment à travers le succès international de Why Nations Fail (Pourquoi les nations échouent).

Récompensé en 2024 par le Prix Nobel pour ses recherches sur le rôle des institutions dans le développement économique, le Professeur Robinson apportera à Cotonou une perspective unique sur les mécanismes qui façonnent le succès ou l'échec des nations. Sa présence à Cotonou illustre l'importance des JSEB comme plateforme incontournable pour penser et construire l'avenir économique du Bénin et de l'Afrique.

In der neusten «Bachelor»-Folge bekommt Danilo Sellaro Besuch von seinem Mami. Gegenüber Blick erklärt sie, dass sie zwar vieles zulasse, doch bei Sex vor der Kamera aber eine klare Grenze zieht.

Le Tribunal de commerce de Cotonou a condamné, le 20 novembre 2025, la Société de Gestion des Marchés Autonomes (SOGEMA), en liquidation, à verser 2,7 millions de francs CFA à un informaticien.

Un prestataire informatique de la Société de Gestion des Marchés Autonomes (SOGEMA) lui réclamait 3.737.288 FCFA, correspondant au solde des prestations des années 2020 à 2024.
Au cœur du litige se trouve un contrat de prestation signé le 8 avril 2011, portant sur la maintenance d'un logiciel budgétaire et comptable développé pour la SOGEMA. Le contrat prévoyait une redevance annuelle de 900.000 FCFA hors taxes, payable par avance et renouvelée chaque année.

La SOGEMA aurait cessé de payer ses redevances depuis 2019, tout en continuant d'utiliser le logiciel et de solliciter des interventions techniques.

Le prestataire affirmait que « toutes les démarches amiables… sont restées vaines » malgré plusieurs correspondances adressées à la structure publique.

En défense, la SOGEMA assurait ne plus avoir bénéficié de prestations depuis longtemps et soutenait que la créance était prescrite. Elle affirmait que l'informaticien cherchait à « profiter de sa mise en liquidation et du remplacement de ses responsables » pour réclamer des sommes non fondées.

La SOGEMA ne reconnaissait qu'une dette de 1.150.169 FCFA, retrouvée dans ses archives. Elle conteste également l'absence de factures et de preuves de service fait pour les années litigieuses.

Pour le Tribunal de commerce de Cotonou, les créances issues d'un contrat de prestation de services entre commerçants se prescrivent par cinq ans, selon l'Acte uniforme de l'OHADA.

Le juge a relevé que plusieurs correspondances avaient été adressées à la SOGEMA entre 2022 et 2024. Ces diverses correspondances « opèrent une interruption du délai de prescription de sorte que l'action du demandeur demeure encore recevable ».

Le Tribunal a fixé les redevances dues à 2.700.000 FCFA, soit trois années de maintenance à 900.000 FCFA chacune. Il condamne la SOGEMA à verser cette somme à l'informaticien et rappelle que « la décision est de plein droit exécutoire par provision et sur minute », conformément aux règles applicables aux petites créances.

L'établissement public, en liquidation, est également condamné aux dépens, selon le jugement N°132/2025/CJ2-PC/S1/TCC du 20 novembre 2025.

M. M.

L’Algérie a pris la décision de stopper les importations collectives de véhicules âgés de moins de trois ans. L’annonce a été faite ce lundi par […]

L’article Importations de véhicules de moins de 3 ans : l’État impose de nouvelles restrictions est apparu en premier sur .

Le Professeur James Robinson, co-lauréat du Prix Nobel d'économie 2024 est à Cotonou. Les 27 et 28 novembre 2025, il prendra part aux Journées Scientifiques de l'Economie Béninoise (JSEB) dont le thème de l'édition 2025 est
« Institutions et Prospérité des Nations ». L'évènement aura lieu à l'hôtel Golden Tulip – Le Diplomate.

Les Journées Scientifiques de l'Economie Béninoise (JSEB) s'imposent progressivement comme un cadre de référence pour les échanges entre chercheurs, étudiants, décideurs et partenaires techniques autour des enjeux économiques contemporains. L'édition 2025 bénéficie du soutien du Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement (PNUD), partenaire officiel de l'événement.
Le thème des JSEB 2025 met l'accent sur les institutions comme socle de développement durable. À ce titre, la venue du Professeur Robinson prend tout son sens, tant ses travaux ont contribué à renouveler la compréhension des dynamiques économiques à travers le prisme institutionnel.

Une sommité mondiale de l'économie politique

Économiste et politologue, James Robinson est professeur à l'Université de Chicago, où il dirige l'Institut Pearson et occupe la chaire Richard L. Pearson. Il est reconnu pour ses recherches interdisciplinaires qui croisent économie, science politique et histoire. Sa notoriété s'est renforcée avec la parution de plusieurs ouvrages marquants, coécrits avec Daron Acemoglu, dont le célèbre Why Nations Fail (Pourquoi les nations échouent), traduit en plus de 40 langues.

Ses recherches portent sur les relations entre les institutions politiques, le pouvoir et la prospérité des sociétés. En 2024, ses travaux ont été récompensés par le Prix Nobel d'économie, partagé avec Acemoglu et Simon Johnson, pour leur contribution à la compréhension des mécanismes institutionnels du développement économique.
M. M.