Sustainable Development Goals on Poverty and Inequality and Their Relationship to Social Policy in Mexico

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted on September 28, 2015 at the summit in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As mentioned by other authors in previous chapters, the road to the SDGs involved different groups of stakeholders (government representatives, civil society, and private sector) who deliberated on the definition of the new goals in the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals between March 2012 and July 2014, when this group released its “Zero Draft.” Among the aspects that have attracted the most attention are the inclusion of such issues as the environment and inequality. Nevertheless, the aim of eliminating “ultra-extreme poverty”—the name that the author has given to the phenomenon called “extreme poverty” by the World Bank, as it refers to a population living on less than$1.25—remains the primary objective. In addition to halving ultra-extreme poverty, “ending poverty in all its forms everywhere” Has now become a goal. To better understand the scope of the SDGs with regard to poverty and inequality, and their possible impact on social policy in Mexico, this chapter first necessary reviews what the establishment of such an agenda means in terms of the recognition of socioeconomic rights. Then this chapter discusses the degree to which the original MDGs, with an emphasis on poverty reduction, have been achieved, both on a global scale and in Mexico. Based on this reflection, the issues most relevant to matters of poverty and inequality shall be examined, as well as their possible link to social policy in Mexico.