​Under the rallying cry of ‘leave no one behind’, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have placed substantial emphasis on inequalities within countries. Relatively less has been said about inequalities between countries, an equally important component of this agenda. Nonetheless, a country-based focus needs to feature prominently, because it is an important aspect of inequality in its own right and because it is fundamental to ensuring the reduction of group-based inequalities. In this note we focus on how to complement a group based focus with a country lens to capitalise on the potential of the SDGs to accelerate development equitably.

Emma Samman