Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

a set of global development goals is necessarily
reductionist, and it is likely that any successor
to the mDGs will involve various quantifiable
targets. Improving the range and availability of
data is therefore very important. nevertheless,
objectives that are less quantifiable will inevitably
be at a disadvantage, so incorporating a stronger
recognition of the broader context into a post-2015
framework is essential so as to influence the way
that goals are translated into practice, and how
progress is interpreted.
5.3.4 Looking at inequality through
a multidimensional and group-based lens
Some current research is focused on inequality in
multiple dimensions and among social groups. to
date, there is very little literature that describes the
evolution of inequalities in dimensions apart from
income, although it seems clear that there is not
much correlation across dimensions (Samman,
ranis et al., 2011). the HDr’s Inequality-adjusted
Human Development Index (IHDI) represents a
first effort to compute inequality across income,
health and education for a large sample of countries.
between 1990 and 2011, analysis of 66 countries
found that worsening income inequality at the
national level undermined large improvements in
health and education inequality (unDp, 2011).
In latin america, there was a fall in inequality in
health and education reported in the 1980s and
1990s (Sahn and Younger, 2006), and in africa, a
fall in educational inequality but little change in
health (Sahn and Younger, 2007).
a separate line of research has focused on inequality
among social groups, so-called ‘horizontal
inequalities’, which have marked importance –
not least in their relationship to conflict (Stewart,
2009) – but are harder to trace at an aggregate
level. While there are some common markers of
disadvantage (e.g. age, caste, disability, ethnicity,
language, religion and sex), the specific groups
that are disadvantaged and the nature of their
disadvantage vary significantly across and within
countries. there has been extensive analysis of
gender-based inequality using cross-national data.
one study argues that gender-based inequality is
falling ‘in virtually all major domains’ and ‘across
diverse religious and cultural traditions’ (Dorius
and Firebaugh, 2010). the HDr’s Gender Inequality
Index (GII), adopted in 2010, also shows falling
inequality – although gender-based differences
remain pronounced, particularly in South asia and
in SSa (unDp, 2011). this persistence of groupbased
disparities seems to hold more widely. one
analysis of ‘intersecting inequalities’ at a regional
level with respect to the mDGs cited a narrowing
of disparities for some groups and deprivations, and
the persistence or widening of others. It also found
that ‘in almost every society and in almost every
region of the world, certain groups of people face
systematic social exclusion as the result of multiple
inequalities that constrict their life chances’ (Kabeer,
2010: 1). these factors, along with the mDG focus
on average attainments, have led to heightened calls
for the explicit consideration of inequality within
any post-2015 framework (melamed, 2012), and
suggest a need to measure and monitor progress
among those who are disadvantaged along these
different dimensions.
5.3.5 Summary: multidimensional poverty
and inequality
taking multidimensionality seriously warrants
reviewing and potentially enlarging the spectrum
of dimensions addressed in any successor to the
mDGs so that it adequately addresses inclusion
and sustainability issues, although this will pose
measurement challenges.
poor people’s experiences of poverty can help to
prioritise dimensions and highlight aspects such as
the importance of relationships and of being treated
with dignity, principles which should guide future
cooperation. the political value and importance of
these insights should not be underestimated as they
indicate how the poorer and more disadvantaged
sectors of society will ultimately judge the results
poSt-2015: Global actIon For an IncluSIvE anD SuStaInablE FuturE
Taking multidimensionality
seriously warrants
reviewing and
potentially
enlarging the
spectrum of
dimensions
addressed in any
successor to the
MDGs so that
it adequately
addresses inclusion
and sustainability
issues, although
this will pose
measurement
challenges.
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