Defining ‘Leave No One Behind’

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been designed to be both genuinely transformational, while at the same time allowing each country scope to implement them as most relevant to their domestic context.

In this spirit, this briefing note does not seek to pin down a prescriptive definition of ‘leave no one behind’, a commitment central to the SDGs. Instead, it sets out broad parameters to offer governments and other implementers some concrete suggestions for approaches to take, and aims to help build greater understanding among donors as to what the ‘leave no one behind’ agenda entails.