Dear reader,
Welcome to Investments to End Poverty 2018: meeting the financing challenge to leave no one behind. Development Initiatives seeks to provide essential analysis based on the best available data and evidence to support all actors – global, regional and national – working to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Since the launch of our Investments to End Poverty series the world has been changing fast. During the Millennium Development Goals period poverty fell by half – showing progress is possible when we work together to a shared agenda. But real challenges remain and some are becoming more acute. Climate change, conflict and violence, economic, social and political events have led to an all-time high number of people displaced, putting great strain on domestic and international resources. Fragility and poverty still converge while national-level inequality is on the rise. We have also witnessed a rise in populist-led movements in many countries driven by isolationist tendencies resulting in an uncertain future for global trade.
All these events challenge the commitments the world made in 2015 through the SDGs – and make the spirit of cooperation and multilateralism that have brought us this far more important to uphold than ever. Investments to End Poverty 2018 takes stock of where we are and sets out a renewed agenda on how financing should respond to meet the priorities of Agenda 2030, specifically SDGs 1 and 10 to end poverty and inequality in all their forms everywhere.
This report is the third in a series launched in 2013 ahead of Agenda 2030 to provide evidenceinformed analysis on the impact of aid on poverty, the right balance between promoting growth and direct assistance to people in poverty and the need to mobilise more resources and use them effectively. The second report provided greater insight on all the potential resources available to finance the SDGs. Investments to End Poverty 2018 sets out a clear agenda on how aid, within the broad development finance landscape, can be better targeted to support Agenda 2030’s ambitions by focusing on the poorest people first.
This report and the in-depth analysis published alongside it aim to be critical resources for donors, multilateral agencies and stakeholders financing Agenda 2030. DI wants to work closely with you to ensure you have the information and evidence you need in an accessible and relevant format to improve the targeting of your work and make every dollar you spend to support Agenda 2030 count. We hope this – and the advisory role we offer openly to all – will ensure you can make the right choices on how to target your scarce resources to end poverty.
As ever, we have sought to base our analysis on the best data available. I look forward to receiving your feedback and working together to end poverty by 2030.
Thank you for your interest.
Harpinder Collacott
Executive Director
