September 2013: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published four papers in its post-2015 series. The papers focus on: education; gender equality and women’s rights; strengthening national statistical systems to monitor global goals; and policy coherence for inclusive and sustainable development.

‘The OECD’s Contribution on Education to the Post-2015 Framework: Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for Development’ summarizes progress on education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), discusses post-2015 education goals and targets and suggests ways to monitor and track progress towards goals. It proposes OECD’s PISA as a way for countries to measure progress towards post-2015 education goals. The PISA assesses cumulative learning on mathematics, reading and science from early childhood through secondary schooling and considers both cognitive and non-cognitive learning outcomes. The paper supports goals focused on education access, equity and quality and supports a shift towards a focus on secondary education.

‘Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in the post-2015 Agenda: A Foundation for Sustainable Development’ recommends a “twin-track” approach in the post-2015 agenda that includes a standalone goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment and gender-specific targets and indicators throughout other goals. It argues the framework should transform underlying discriminatory social norms and practices, such as violence against women, and recommends disaggregating indicators by sex.

‘Strengthening National Statistical Systems to Monitor Global Goals’ proposes next steps for tracking the post-2015 development goals, based on lessons learned from monitoring the MDGs. It recommends defining goals and indicators in consultation with national statistical communities. It highlights OECD’s Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) as an example of how to structure a global statistical partnership and the Busan Action Plan for Statistics as a framework to build statistical capacity.

‘Policy Coherence for Inclusive and Sustainable Development’ discusses how to create the enabling environment and policy coherence needed for the post-2015 framework, drawing on OECD’s policy coherence for development (PCD) process. It reviews global changes since the MDGs’ creation and recommends a broader PCD approach based on, inter alia: collective action, common but differentiated (CBD) responsibilities and mutual benefits; multiple levels of coherence; inclusive policy dialogue; and a focus on fostering positive synergies across sectors and among policies. [Publication: The OECD’s Contribution on Education to the Post-2015 Framework] [Publication: Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in the Post-2015 Agenda] [Publication: Strengthening National Statistical Systems to Monitor Global Goals] [Publication: Policy Coherence for Inclusive and Sustainable Development] [OECD Post-2015 Website] [IISD RS Story on OECD Overview Paper]