The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were drawn up at the dawn of the 20th century as one of the most far-reaching development agendas ever proposed. The premise was simple, but ambitious: by the year 2015, the world’s governments committed to achieve significant progress in eradicating the worst forms of human deprivation and suffering from the face of the earth. With the deadline fast approaching it is time to ask several questions:

1. Did the MDGs make any difference? Did they have any effect? Do we need a new international agenda? Are international development goals still the right instrument? And if yes, how should a new goals system be aligned with the changing context of international cooperation, in particular the shift away from traditional aid?

2. Should a new goals system focus solely on final results as the current MDGs 1-7 do? Or should they as well include instrumental goals like the preservation of global public goods, redistribution, private sector development? Which topics should be covered?

3. What could possible indicators look like? How can we make sure that we have the data we need to monitor progress towards the goals? And that these data are reliable?

4. How can the legitimacy of the goal formulation process be guaranteed? What should be done differently compared to the implementation of the MDGs?