Income and wealth inequality are rising in most countries around the world today. Recognizing that this challenge has become a universal issue, in 2015, the United Nations agreed to seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and specifically to SDG Target 10 committing countries to ‘reduce inequalities within and among countries’. The SDGs provide several levers to turn the global inequality debate into action: a common metric, peer pressure through a ranking of countries, and mutual learning of policies. Country ranking would be technically feasible thanks to national statistical reports on SDGs. We must be clear however that it remains politically tricky. Ranking countries according to their performance in achieving specific goals and targets is very unlikely to become part of the mandate of the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF). This ranking could be produced instead by coalitions of Think Tanks, research institutions and civil society organizations (CSO) outside of the UN system.
Full article: Impakter website
