Sustainable development goals and development cooperation
This domain tests the global development framework and the finance and partnerships behind it. Questions ask you to identify goals and targets, compare the SDGs with the MDGs, and evaluate whether aid works and what other flows matter.
The SDG framework
- The Millennium Development Goals ran from 2000 to 2015: eight goals, with targets set mainly for developing countries and measured against 1990 baselines.
- The Sustainable Development Goals run from 2015 to 2030: 17 goals, 169 targets and about 232 indicators, universal in applying to all countries, with the pledge to leave no one behind and an emphasis on disaggregated data.
- Know the numbering: 1 poverty, 2 zero hunger, 3 health, 4 education, 5 gender equality, 6 water and sanitation, 8 decent work and growth, 10 reduced inequalities, 13 climate action, 16 peace and justice, 17 partnerships.
Financing and cooperation
- Official development assistance target is 0.7% of gross national income (0.15–0.2% for least developed countries).
- Aid modalities: project aid, budget support, sector-wide approaches, technical assistance, humanitarian relief.
- The Paris Declaration (2005) principles: ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results, mutual accountability. Tied aid and heavy conditionality undermine ownership.
- Other flows often exceed aid: remittances, FDI, private capital, and domestic tax revenue, which is the largest sustainable source. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda (2015) set out this financing mix.
- Climate finance pledged at Paris 2015 was $100 billion a year for developing countries; South–South cooperation adds further channels.
Worked example
A donor gives $3.2 billion to a country with GNI of $800 billion. ODA ÷ GNI = 3.2 ÷ 800 × 100 = 0.4%, below the 0.7% target. Analysis should note the shortfall, then ask whether $3.2 billion is large relative to that country's health budget and whether it is tied to donor suppliers - the ratio alone does not settle whether aid is effective.
Traps that cost marks
Mixing up goal numbers; assuming aid is the largest financial flow to developing countries; confusing pledges with disbursements; praising a high ODA figure without checking whether it is tied or poorly targeted.