Promoting Peace Through Sustainable Development Goals

After two years of discussion, UN member states have finally agreed on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and establish a global development framework for the next fifteen years. The SDGs which were formally adopted at the UN Substainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015. The Common African Position (CAP) calls for the SDGs to give adequate attention to peace and security, acknowledging the inextricable links between peace, security, stability, and development. While China has acknowledged the importance of peace for development, it initially voiced some skepticism over whether the issue should be addressed explicitly through the SDGs. Nonetheless, China has committed to coordinating its position with that of African countries and has now accepted the inclusion of Goal 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies. Indeed, China has already expressed its strong support for African peace and security as an enabler for development in other forums. This paper demonstrates how many of the commitments made in the last Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Action Plan (2013–2015) in fact overlap with many of the peace-related targets in the draft SDGs. This suggests that the upcoming 6th FOCAC meeting in South Africa in December 2015 could be an opportunity to discuss how the next Action Plan can serve as an implementation mechanism for the SDGs, particularly with regard to their focus on peace

Action plan · Business · China · Development economics · Economic growth · Geography · Human security · Management · Millennium Development Goals · Political science · Position (finance · Poverty · Skepticism · Summit · Sustainable development · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Development and Aid · Law · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Public Administration