Redefining Development: The Extraordinary Genesis of the Sustainable Development Goals

This extraordinary first-person story of what can be achieved through informal diplomacy traces the improbably successful struggle to achieve acceptance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)--and thus transform the global development agenda--against all odds. Moving from the framing of the SDGs concept through the entire negotiation process (including a trove of key documents), Paula Caballero and Patti Londoño's vibrant narrative provides rare insight into informal diplomacy and multilateralism in action. Their insiders' account provides a unique perspective on how global movements and agendas can be built and impelled forward. Not least, it also serves to prove that just a few committed individuals can generate radical change.

Foreword / by Juan Manuel Santos -- The Sustainable Development Goals: The Roadmap for Our Time -- The Merits of Informal Diplomacy -- Getting Governments on Board -- Getting the World to Understand the SDGs -- Lobbying for the SDGs -- A Tortuous Process -- Evolution of the Negotiation Text -- Breakthrough in Rio -- Creating the Open Working Group -- Transformative Implementation.