The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a new holistic framework for all countries’ development efforts, linking people, planet, and prosperity by 2030. The SDGs pick up from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which provided time-bound targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions—income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion—while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. While the MDGs played a major role in improving lives worldwide between 2000 and 2015, progress among goals and between countries was uneven. The SDGs give all countries in the world a renewed opportunity to make progress, taking on both longstanding and more recent development challenges.

Financial management and planning processes within countries are evolving to respond to the SDGs. Managing for Development Results (MfDR) has been a key concept in strengthening the capacity of the state, enabling it to improve the lives of its citizens. ADB’s communities of practice are well-equipped to formulate ideas and contribute to achieving the 17 SDGs. This year’s seminar reflected on the challenges and opportunities presented by the 2030 development agenda.

The seminar was designed to reflect on country experiences, challenges, and opportunities facing MfDR practice. Participants included public servants, NGO, and private sector representatives from Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Discussions aimed to arrive at concrete actions and solutions that can help countries achieve SDGs in the context of MfDR.