The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute a truly transformative agenda which provides a framework to help useffectively confront the fundamental challenges of development in a way that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) didnot. This commentary briefly describes the very demanding, at times antagonistic, process that produced the SDGs, includingthe crucial role of the Open Working Group (OWG). It points out the strengths of the SDGs by comparison with the MDGs,with respect to both process and product. The SDGs, proposed and championed by a country from the Global South, for thefirst time defined development as a universal agenda, and upended the traditional division of countries into those who needto act and those called primarily to provide development assistance. Many countries across the development spectrumrejected this proposal, which wasfinally agreed thanks to persistence, lengthy negotiations and consensus building. In theend, the adoption of the SDGs also broke down the divide between environment and development, offering an integratedand inclusive framework for structuring solutions. Yet an agenda of such deep transformative potential faces implementationchallenges, and this commentary emphasizes the need for the sort of analysis contained in the papers in this Special Issue inorder to ensure that the SDGs are strengthened and continue to evolve.

En este Informe de Avances 2015, México vuelve a mostrar su compromiso y capacidad de innovación al comunicar los logros, analizar detenidamente los retos, identificar los obstáculos persistentes y establecer las políticas





que deberán implementarse para superarlos. De los 51 indicadores en los que México comprometió esfuerzos, reportamos cumplimiento total en 37 de ellos, y cinco más podrían conseguirse al término de 2015. Esto es motivo de gran satisfacción, porque representa un nuevo piso básico para impulsar el desarrollo de los mexicanos. Sin embargo, también reconocemos que pese a los avances logrados, existen desafíos que todavía debemos enfrentar para lograr el país próspero, incluyente y con educación de calidad al que aspiramos.