At the Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015, UN Member States have adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. Enormous progress has been made on the MDGs, showing the value of a unifying agenda underpinned by goals and targets. Despite this success, the indignity of poverty has not been ended for all.

The SDGs will finish the work of the MDGs, and ensure that no one is left behind. They will guide policy and funding for the next 15 years, beginning with a historic pledge to end poverty. Everywhere. Permanently.
This new development agenda applies to all countries, promotes peaceful and inclusive societies, creates better jobs and tackles the environmental challenges of our time—particularly climate change. World leaders have adopted a historic global agreement on climate change at the Paris Climate Conference.

In addition to these 17 global goals, the Government Lao PDR has agreed on a national SDG for reducing the impact of unexploded bombs (UXO) on the development of the country. This SDG 18 was launched in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his visit to Laos in September 2016.