Independent Research Forum // Connecting the dots: Can a "nexus" approach help produce better SDGs?

The Independent Research Forum (IRF2015) is a collaboration of research institutes from across the globe that provides an independent source of critical thinking, integrated analysis and awareness-raising on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a post-2015 development agenda. They look not only on the MDGs but also on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which are bulit upon the MDGs.

About

What does development look like beyond poverty reduction? What if every country, community and person had a viable and dignified income? What if we could do this and maintain a sustainable resource base and a healthy environment, with social inclusion and respect for human rights? Background In the year 2000, the international community joined together to devise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — a set of goals for tackling global poverty and other development issues. The deadline to achieve the MDGs is 2015, and a great deal has been achieved. Global poverty continues to decline, more children than ever are attending primary school, child deaths have dropped significantly, many more people have access to safe drinking water, and deaths from malaria have fallen by one quarter, to name a few examples. However, 2015 is nearly upon us, and our job is by no means over. While the MDGs articulated a global vision of development around a common set of goals and priorities, the next era of international cooperation should focus action at local, national and global levels, integrating the economic, social and environmental challenges that confront the next generation. In this context, the international community decided at the Rio+20 Conference in June 2012 to get to work on developing a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the MDGs.

Who we are

The Independent Research Forum (IRF2015) is a collaboration of research institutes from across the globe that provides an independent source of critical thinking, integrated analysis and awareness-raising on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a post-2015 development agenda. IRF2015 brings together diverse analytical skills, cultural perspectives and networks, combining expertise across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development. Our approach is representative, independent and bottom-up. We aim to leverage the power of our networks to inform decision makers on how to achieve sustainable development. We are creating a compelling, practical and solution-oriented vision of well-being for people and the Earth. You can find out more about the members of IRF2015 in the 'Partners' section of this site. What we do The post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs will be shaped by many different actors. IRF2015 aims to offer expert advice on sustainable development that is useful to the following key groups: -UN bodies -National governments -Local government -Civil society -Business Currently, IRF2015 is working closely with the Open Working Group (OWG) — the intergovernmental working group tasked by the Rio+20 Conference to design the SDGs. The OWG comprises 30 members representing 70 UN Member States, and holds sessions on different topics, which will culminate in a report to the 68th session of the General Assembly in September 2014, containing a proposal for the SDGs. IRF2015 is supporting the OWG and contributing directly to the SDG drafting process.