The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were the world’s central instrument in the fight against poverty, but they were designed for a more peaceful era that no longer exists. Conflicts are now at a record high since World War II, and a changing geopolitical order is only incentivizing more. The IRC's new report, Global Goals for a World in Conflict, warns that with four years left to run, the SDGs have instead become a testament to the growing inequalities between fragile, conflict-affected communities and their more peaceful neighbors.

The IRC is calling for a dual track for urgent action:

• Track 1: Build momentum in the remaining four years of the SDGs by prioritizing the greatest needs of the most at-risk countries and communities, focusing on interventions with the most evidence of effectiveness, and reforming the financing and delivery systems that currently stop them from reaching people;
• Track 2: Embrace a new set of global goals for the period after 2030 that learn the lessons from past goals by focusing on a narrower set of priorities that put conflict at the heart of the design.