Foreword

Helping development agencies obtain more and better information on the results they achieve has been a central part of the work of the Development Co-operation Directorate. However, in the age of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this work has gained new impetus: the scope and ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is such that every decision of these agencies needs to count towards making people’s lives better.

The 17 SDGs and their 169 targets, measured by 232 indicators, provide a common framework for all actors, public and private, working towards sustainable development: they help identify synergies, avoid duplication and parallel processes, and maximise the impact of their efforts.

Since 2015, the OECD/DAC Results Community -- an open group of close to 500 members from bilateral and multilateral organisations, partner countries and think tanks-- has been striving to understand better how the SDGs can be an entry point for more and better data on results. In particular, it has helped define a typology of results information and produce guidance on how to use the SDGs in corporate results frameworks.

Building upon case studies in the education, sanitation and energy sectors, this report provides practical insights on how to use SDG indicators when planning for, and measuring development results at country level. It paves the way for detailed guidance to be crafted in 2020 on how to adapt agencies’ results-based approaches in different country contexts in order to help them achieve the SDGs.