The United Nations and partners have launched an unprecedented series of consultations with people the world over to seek their views on a new development agenda to build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This global conversation responds to a growing call for active participation in shaping the ‘world we want’. Taking place well before governments sit down to negotiate and finalize such a new agenda, the consultations underway provide evidence and perspectives to governments on the challenges people face in improving their lives and those of their families and communities.

We offer our analysis here as a snapshot of where consultations stand to feed into the global debate and the work of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. A final report of the findings of the consultations will be prepared in the summer of 2013, once national and thematic consultations have yielded their final results.