The following opinion pieces discuss the next round of global development goals against the backdrop of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York.

Devex: Beyond 2015: A new agenda for a better world
Jim Emerson, CEO of VSO International

“People everywhere around the world want to be able to influence the decisions that affect their lives. As world leaders meet this week at the U.N. General Assembly to discuss a future path for addressing global poverty, they shouldn’t forget that people in the poorest countries and communities don’t want to be told what is best for them — they want to be active partners in their own development. … As we look ahead, we need to take into account the different world we live in compared to when the MDGs were drawn up in 2000 — including the ways in which inequality and economic crises are still hurting many. Much remains to be done to create an equitable and sustainable world where every person is safe, lives well and enjoys their human rights, and where political and economic systems deliver well-being for all women, men, and children, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized, within the limits of our planet’s resources. That’s why we must take the lessons learned from this global approach and why the leaders meeting this week must re-energize the fight against poverty and inequality with an ambitious, transformative, common framework that can mobilize governments, civil society, parliaments, businesses and — most importantly — people…” (9/25).

Inter Press Service: Delivering on the Promises of the Global Partnership for Development
Wu Hongbo, under-secretary-general for the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)

“Persistent gaps between the promises made, and actually delivered, by developed countries to developing countries, hold back efforts to improve people’s lives and end poverty. The poorest countries need more access to aid, trade, debt relief, medicines, and technologies, if we are going to make greater progress on reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). … As the deadline for achieving the MDGs approaches and Member States of the United Nations prepare to launch a new sustainable development agenda, we must do our utmost to close the remaining gaps. With little more than one year remaining, now is the time to take action. Let us all work together — governments, international institutions, all citizens of the globe — to commit to concrete accelerated actions in achieving all MDGs, as well as to a renewed global development cooperation, to underpin our development efforts, so that we can usher in a more sustainable future” (9/25).