Report on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

The United Nations released a report last week on the post-2015 Development Agenda. A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development notes recommendations on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and includes "five transformational shifts, applicable to both developed and developing countries alike, including a new Global Partnership as the basis for a single, universal post-2015 agenda."

The report addresses "some simple questions: starting with the current MDGs, what to keep, what to amend, and what to add." IIE applauds the members of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Of Eminent Persons On The Post-2015 Development Agenda for recognizing the "need for the post-2015 agenda to go well beyond the MDG’s focus on primary education."

The report states that: "Scientists and academics can make scientific and technological breakthroughs that will be essential to the post-2015 agenda. Every country that has experienced sustained high growth has done so through absorbing knowledge, technology and ideas from the rest of the world, and adapting them to local conditions. What matters is not just having technology, but understanding how to use it well and locally. This requires universities, technical colleges, public administration schools and well-trained, skilled workers in all countries. This is one example of the need for the post-2015 agenda to go well beyond the MDG’s focus on primary education."

IIE continues to recommend that the next Millennium Development Goals and the Education For All Framework formulate a set of goals and objectives that include a focus on increased access to quality higher education for all.