Nepal's Sustainable Development Agenda aims to guide and influence national-level planning and policies up to 2017. The agenda presented draws upon and is in conformity with the longer term goals envisaged in the Ninth Plan (1997-2002), the Tenth Plan (2002-2007), the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, the Millennium Development Goals, and commitments made by the country in various international forums. Accepting and building upon Nepal's status as a largely mountainous country beset by poverty but holding tremendous future potentials, this document goes beyond setting goals that appear within reach by simply projecting forward the trends of the recent past. It states broad goals that describe where His Majesty's Government of Nepal hopes to take Nepal by 2017. Reaching these goals is challenging but plausible.
Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal begins by describing the pathways forward to achieving the goals, detailed objectives, followed by necessary government policies. Due to cross-cutting linkages, the discussion is grouped into broad topic themes (income; health; education; institutions and infrastructure; forest, ecosystems and biodiversity; and security). Many of these objectives are to be fulfilled through policies in multiple sectors, while policies in individual sectors will contribute to achieving multiple objectives. Finally, the document describes how it can remain relevant over a fifteen-year time scale during which new knowledge, needs, and information will arise.