Kaitlyn Waring
This past September, world leaders gathered in New York at the UN Summit of the Future. The purpose of the summit was to create new and strengthen existing consensus on how to deliver some of the world’s most pressing present and future goals. These priorities are intended to be achieved through the Pact for the Future, an intergovernmental negotiated and action-oriented agreement focused on issues of sustainable development and financing, international peace, innovation, youth and future generations, and transforming global governance.
The 66-page document outlines a number of action items within these key areas to achieve the ambitious goals agreed upon by the parties of the conference. While the document offers a comprehensive framework for the end goals that the world needs to see, equal focus needs to be placed on the specific steps and processes required to achieve these end goals.
In general, the action items detailed in the document, from poverty alleviation to ending hunger to addressing climate change, use broad, overarching language that leaves unanswered the question of how to achieve true lasting progress. The widely recognized Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by UN members in 2015, similarly offer pillars of development achievement without any steps to achieve them or indicators to measure their success.
Of course, given the incredible diversity of situations and needs across the globe, specific action plans will be similarly diverse for individual countries, regions, and even communities. But, a common factor that unites all contexts is the need for participatory and decentralized approaches to development that enable people on all levels to take control of their own futures in a sustainable manner.
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