Sustainable Development Goals: How India and the world are doing

Opponents of free debate are celebrating. Last week, under pressure from some climate-change activists, the University of Western Australia canceled its contract to host a planned research center, Australia Consensus, intended to apply economic cost-benefit analysis to development projects—giving policy makers a tool to ensure their aid budgets are spent wisely.

Bangladesh has big plans for the next five years. By the time the 50th anniversary of independence arrives, and as part of its Vision 2021 plan, the nation aspires to achieve middle-income status. Along with the economic aim, other ambitious goals include slashing poverty drastically, safeguarding basic rights for all citizens, ensuring ubiquitous access to adequate nutrition, clothing, housing, and health care - and doing it all while protecting the environment.

Jobs don’t come much tougher than this. Whoever is chosen as the new head of the World Health Organization next week has $4.5 billion a year to spend – but when you’re trying to improve public health on a planet of 7.5 billion people, you have to use it wisely.

So the new director-general needs to prioritise areas where a sharper focus would squeeze the most out of every dollar, yen, euro or pound spent. Doing this would also bolster the case for an increase in the WHO’s budget.