11.09.2015
The SDGs risk failing the most vulnerable in fragile states

Devex "From migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean in hopes of a better life to income disparities and discrimination in the West, inequality is the central issue of the day. (by David Milibrand)

Countries, foundations, even businesses are pledging to make things right, perhaps because they care but also because they’re under scrutiny — and rightly so. But the fastest-growing inequality — between people in stable states and those caught up in conflict — is all but ignored. None of the SDGs — on education, health or gender equality — establish special targets for people in conflict-affected, so-called fragile states. We need a course correction, fast." (Photo: Syrian refugee children at a clinic in Ramtha, Jordan. The MDGs did not recognize the special challenges of war-torn, chronically impoverished countries. Nearly two-thirds of fragile states will fail to halve extreme poverty by the end of this year — the deadline for meeting the MDGs / © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development / CC BY