Sustainable Development is broadly defined as the “development that meets the needs of present without sacrificing the ability of future generation to meet its needs” (UN Brundtland Report, 1987). As a concept in international development, it has grown to become an important political-economy instrument, not only for its multidisciplinary nature but also due to its ever increasing relevance to policy coordination and contribution to effective local, national, regional development management and administration systems, especially through the introduction of the Millennium Development Goals, replaced by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2015.
Beginning from the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, the awareness of the holistic nature of development issues (such as poverty, pollution, peace and security, health, economic development, water, sanitation, urban planning, biodiversity……etc) have expanded the coverage of the term and gave impetus to the above-mentioned generalist definition, which has been a subject of debate over the years. The advent of the SDGs as articulated in the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development as an umbrella Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs) for the next 15 years also stressed its importance as a tool for management in international affairs, where the intertwining nature of challenges and solutions needs a coordinated approach and has resulted in many reform moves both at the level of the United Nations, Multilateral and Regional Organization and, at present and to a large extent, national and local approach to tackling development challenges, with corresponding public policies and action.