Week three was an interesting lesson in the sense that I developed a deeper understanding of the multifaceted goals that drive the SDGs. Originally in the year 2000, the United Nations Millennium Summit adopted eight Millennium Development Goals  (MDGs) that were intended to be accomplished by 2015 through the international coalition of governments and organizations. Some of these goals included, for example, “ to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” and to “combat HIV/AIDs, malaria, and other diseases” (un.org). Though the MDGs did target very severe and widespread issues in developing countries, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) (which are essentially a continuation of the MDGs after 2015) appear to be better suited towards combatting a wider variety of development issues towards a more expansive audience world-wide. For example, because there are 17 goals rather than just 8, the 17 SDGs (with 169 targets)  seem to have a greater emphasis on the inclusivity of sustainable development activities in the realm of international development, since the global community seeks to promote the productivity of all citizens –and their institutions– in order to promote more sustainable and impactful development in all human development sectors. Unlike the MDGs, the SDGs  included 7 explicit mentions to persons with disabilities, 5 mentions to persons in vulnerable situations, ans well as 2 mentions of the importance of non-discrimination (Kumar, Vivekadhish 1). I think this was a massive improvement in the way the global community views international development since on the international front, there appears to be a better understanding on the social ideals that must be met in order to promote more holistic and inclusive development solutions.

The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Goals, according to their website is the “ United Nation’s central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and sustainable development goals”. In 2017, the HLPF will be convening under the Economic and Social Council under the theme of “eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. It appears that the HLPF is working towards improving the efficiency of the SDGs as there will be a review of SDGs 1,2,3,5,9, 14 and 17.