Advancing together: Eight decades of learning, progress, and shared purpose

By Navid Hanif, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, UN DESA

When we look back at nearly 80 years of the United Nations, one truth stands out: progress is rarely linear — but it is always stronger when we move together.

That spirit is at the heart of our new UN DESA report, Advancing Together: Eight Decades of Progress Towards Sustainable Development for All, released as the UN marks its 80th anniversary. Writing this reflection has been a reminder that development isn’t a single breakthrough — it’s a long arc of learning, cooperation, and course-correction.

And the arc has bent toward progress.

In 1945, a third of humanity lived under colonial rule. Today, almost every nation governs itself. Extreme poverty has fallen dramatically. Millions more children — especially girls — go to school. Global life expectancy has risen by over 20 years since the UN’s founding. These gains didn’t happen by accident; they happened because the world chose cooperation over fragmentation.

Over the decades, our understanding of development expanded. What began as a focus on rebuilding economies after war grew into a broader vision: development that includes, empowers, and protects — today and for the generations that follow. That evolution culminated in the SDGs, the closest we have to a shared global blueprint. The SDGs remind us that there is no clean water without good governance, no good health without climate resilience, no economic growth without education and equality. Everything is connected.

And multilateralism — despite all predictions of its demise — has been the engine behind these breakthroughs. From Stockholm to Rio, from Paris to today’s Global Digital Compact, the Sevilla Commitment and Doha Political Declaration, the world has repeatedly shown that shared problems are solved only through shared solutions.

Yes, today’s moment is difficult. Trust is fragile. Inequalities are widening. Debt is choking development space. Climate change, digital divides, and misinformation add new layers of complexity. But despite this, something remarkable continues to happen: countries still show up. They still negotiate. They still choose dialogue over division.

Recent milestones — including the WHO Pandemic Agreement and renewed commitments on financing, social development and digital governance — are proof that multilateralism is not dying; it is adapting.

From eight decades of experience, our report draws five clear lessons:

1. Development is interconnected. Progress in one area reinforces progress in others.
2. Multilateralism is indispensable. Every major global breakthrough has been built on cooperation.
3. Shared norms drive real-world action. Frameworks like the SDGs and Paris Agreement shape policy, investment, and accountability.
4. Adaptation is survival. The UN must continually reform and innovate to stay fit for purpose.
5. Future generations must guide today’s decisions. Sustainable development means long-term responsibility, not short-term fixes.

Perhaps the most important insight is this: sustainable development is not simply a goal — it is a mindset. It is the belief that economic growth, social justice, and environmental stewardship are not competing priorities but mutually reinforcing ones.

The progress we safeguard today becomes the platform for tomorrow’s breakthroughs. And the next chapter of development, like the last eight decades, will depend on one thing above all: our ability to keep advancing — together.