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DELIVERING RESULTS81© ReutersLeave no one behindPerhaps the greatest flaw of the MDGs was that their broad targets allowed the most deprivedgroups to be overlooked. The resolve to redress this should form the backbone of the new goalsBy Natalie Samarasinghe,Executive Director, UNA-UKThe report of the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015Development Agenda, publishedlast year, set out five transformative shiftsneeded to drive and underpin the next eraof global development. The first was a callto leave no one behind.It highlighted the importance oftackling the causes of poverty, exclusionand inequality, to ensure that “in thefuture neither income nor gender, norethnicity, nor disability, nor geography,will determine whether people live or die,whether a mother can give birth safely, orwhether her child has a fair chance in life”.No person, regardless of any their status,should be denied universal human rightsand basic economic opportunities.This addresses one of the mostfundamental criticisms of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs): that theydid not focus enough on reaching thepoorest and most excluded. The Goalshave seen great progress at the globallevel, with three major targets – onreducing extreme poverty, widening accessto drinking water and improving the livesof slum dwellers – met ahead of schedule.All regions have seen advances in tacklingchild mortality, increasing primary schoolenrolment and addressing HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis and malaria.At the national and local level, thepicture is far more uneven. The MDGfocus on broad targets has served to maskinequalities within and between countriesand communities. In certain countries,Goals have been met nationally with littleor no change for the poorest. There hasalso been concern that the frameworkincentivised decision-makers and donors topursue the easiest gains, instead of focusingon those hardest to reach.This is especially true for groups suchas the rural poor, the elderly, persons withdisabilities, minorities and refugees. Formany of the MDG targets, the progressof women has lagged behind that of men,particularly if they belong to one of thosegroups. People affected by conflict have seentheir progress towards the Goals reversed.And for many indigenous peoples, efforts todeliver development projects without properconsultation or consideration of their needshave put their lives and livelihoods at risk.In general, those whose starting pointwas lower, and whose status or situationhas made them more vulnerable, are farmore likely to have been left behind and tobe affected by economic, climate or othershocks. They are also much less likely to beon the monitoring radar.Iraqi Yazidis, a religious minority, in the foothillsof Sinjar mountain, fleeing from forces loyal to theIslamic State militantsGLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2014