This book offers a multifaceted examination of Africa’s development into the post-2015 global agenda from a geographical perspective. As a diversified and highly applied discipline, geography has a lot to offer to global debates, nuanced analysis of problems on and the search for innovative solutions to advance the African development agenda beyond 2015. The end of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era and the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015 mark an important turning point for Africa and an opportune time to examine new challenges and opportunities that it faces. The regional disparities in MDG progress affirm an important geographic tenet that the unique yet internally differentiated socio-cultural, economic, political, ecological, biophysical and historical context give Africa distinctive challenges and opportunities that demand particular approaches to development. This edited book presents innovative contributions examining Africa’s development performance in diverse sectors during the MDG era as a basis for understanding prospects for its development in the SDG era and beyond. It offers new and innovative study perspectives and methodological approaches on urban transformation, development financing, food security, climate change, gender equality, health, and regional integration, among other topics, and useful insights for scholars, students and development practitioners. This book was originally published as a special issue of African Geographical Review, the journal of the American Association of Geographers’ Africa Specialty Group, to mark the transition from MDGs to SDGs.

This book is a comprehensive analysis of the structure, determinants and consequences of changes in sub-Saharan African families, thereby representing an Afrocentric description of the emerging trends. It documents various themes in the sub-disciplines of family demography. The first section of the book focuses on philosophical understanding of African family, its theoretical perspectives, and comparative analysis of family in the 20th and 21st centuries. The second section covers family formation, union dissolution, emerging trend in single parenthood, and adolescents in the family. The following section describes types, determinants and consequences of African family changes: health, childbearing, youth development, teen pregnancy and family violence and the last chapter provides systematic evidence on existing laws and policies governing African family structure and dynamics. As such it illustrates the importance of family demography in African demographic discourse and will be an interesting read to scholars and students in the field of demography, social workers, policy makers, departments of Social Development in countries in Africa and relevant international agencies and all those interested in understanding the African family trajectory.

At the turn of the millennium, the unanimous adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly marked a new chapter in international development. However, voices from the Global South were noticeably absent in shaping the agenda. Fifteen years later, the global context has changed so much that it would have been inconceivable not to have taken voices from the South into account when planning the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since its inception in 2012, the Southern Voice on Post-MDG International Development Goals (Southern Voice), a network of 48 think tanks from Africa, Asia and Latin America, has generated a substantial body of original research to feed into various aspects of the post-2015 development agenda, such as the missing dimensions of the MDGs, ways to mitigate existing challenges in delivering on aspired outcomes, and new issues, goals, targets and indicators that are crucial for the next global development framework. Southern Perspectives on the Post-2015 International Development Agenda consolidates this research and stitches together development realities and policy experiences from the Global South, infusing unique local perspectives to the global debate on the post-2015 agenda. The compendium addresses the overarching themes underpinning the new international development framework by focusing on issues such as sustainability and growth, inclusion and social policies, governance and capacities, and financing of the new agenda. Southern Voice seeks to challenge the "knowledge asymmetry" afflicting the global knowledge system by channelling evidence-based policy analyses produced by centres of excellence, located in the Global South. This is a valuable resource for academics and researchers, policymakers and practitioners, and concerned students in search of alternative views on sustainable development.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were launched at the UN General Assembly in 2001, and have had great influence on the field of international development. The Goals cover areas such as extreme poverty (i.e. living on less than US$1.25 per day), primary education, child and maternal mortality, and HIV/AIDS; each Goal is supported by underlying targets, most of which have a target date of 2015. In July 2012, the UN Secretary-General established a High-level Panel, tasked with making recommendations as to what should replace the MDGs after 2015. Under the MDGs, some of the targets are phrased in universal terms, but others are relative - on extreme poverty, for example, the target is not to eliminate it but to reduce it by half. The Prime Minister has argued that the post-2015 framework should aim for the elimination of extreme poverty, and the Committee agrees. Another key debate is whether the post-2015 framework should incorporate issues of environmental sustainability, again supported by the Committee. The MDGs undoubtedly had great resonance around the world. The simplicity and measurability of the MDGs, and the level of responsibility countries have taken for meeting them, have been crucial factors in their success. For those involved in developing the post-2015 framework, the most critical task is to ensure that these strengths are retained.

Though the fact gets little international attention, in recent years countries across Africa have seen unprecedented economic growth, a boom that stretches back to 2000 and has made a huge difference in the lives of citizens in countless nations. Nonetheless, the continent still faces major development challenges. This book brings together a sterling roster of contributors to analyze present and future development in Africa, post-Millennium Development Goals. It presents twelve major public policy conversations that they deem essential to Africa's future growth and success.

This unique work by the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, tracks the progress Africa has made in achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since 2000. Thirteen analytical chapters written by scholars and practitioners with expertise in the various areas covered by the eight MDGs are organized around the larger themes of political economy, structural issues, sustainable goals, and human development goals. They critically assess the progress that Africa has made towards the achievement of the MDGs, discuss how to accelerate that progress, and offer alternatives and recommendations in support of institutions in Africa that are engaged in promoting the achievement of sustainable development. Throughout, they examine the role of various actors (including the African Union; Africa’s regional economic communities, the United Nations, the European Union, etc.), civil society, and other external development partners in light of their contributions, shortfalls, and viable options in shaping the continent’s development agenda. Together they provide a unique assessment from experts on the ground of whether the goals were a success and what remains to be done to achieve sustainable economic and human development in Africa.

In order to maintain the strong progress achieved since 2000 and meet Africa's longer-term challenges, it is important for both African governments and their international partners to meet their development commitments and to monitor and evaluate their results.

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa’s growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent’s two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development, and governance.

The book draws upon the expertise and international research collaborations forged by the Worldwide Universities Network Global Africa Group to critically engage with the intersection, in theory and practice, of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s development agendas and needs. Further, it argues that – and demonstrates how – the SDGs should be understood as an aspirational blueprint for development with multiple meanings that are situated in dynamic and contested terrains. As the SDGs have substantial implications for development policy and resourcing at both the macro and micro levels, their relevance is not only context-specific but should also be assessed in terms of the aspirations and needs of ordinary citizens across the continent. Drawing on analyses and evidence from both the natural and social sciences, the book demonstrates that progress towards the SDGs must meet demands for improving human well-being under diverse and challenging socio-economic, political and environmental conditions. Examples include those from the mining industry, public health, employment and the media. In closing, it highlights how international collaboration in the form of research networks can enhance the production of critical knowledge on and engagement with the SDGs in Africa.