The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a blueprint for eradicating poverty in low-income countries, while addressing problems of unsustainable patterns of consumption and production in the developed world. The SDGs will be driven not primarily by governments, but by evolving partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector. Here are ways that civil society organizations can contribute meaningfully to SDGs, and that the post-2015 agenda can support civil society’s development efforts over the next 15 years. In a recent speech to commemorate the International Day for Democracy, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on governments to ensure enabling environments for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to operate. This has been a welcome development in view of the fact that in 2014 serious threats to civic freedoms were reported in almost 100 countries around the world...

— blogs.adb.org/blog