Our analysis shows that using innovative methods and technologies to reach and include those people so far left out of progress will have the greatest, most lasting effect. This means reaching more children who are not in school; supporting families with the information they need to help avoid child stunting; extending basic health, water and sanitation services to neglected rural and urban slum areas; and addressing the reasons why children and mothers die, particularly in areas where these deaths are most concentrated.

The world would also see more progress and better conditions for sustained development if major conflicts could be resolved, if other major forms of violence could be tackled, and if societies were helped to stabilize and rebuild their public sector institutions and create conditions for private enterprise and job creation.

Lastly, we should strengthen the systems we use to monitor progress, including at local level and among the worst-off groups. We should aim to combine our present relative strengths in household surveys with innovations that empower people to conduct their own monitoring and provide feedback on government services and delivery performance. Enabling families and service users to be part of the monitoring process – to generate and use their own data – will help lay a stronger foundation for a new agenda that is accountable and responsive to their priority needs. It will also help enlist them as contributors, socio-economic entrepreneurs and direct participants in the success of the agenda.