Tom Cardamone is the Managing Director of the research and advisory organisation Global Financial Integrity. Global Financial Integrity assists developing and emerging market countries in strengthening their economies and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by curtailing illicit flows and boosting domestic resources. Tom Cardamone is responsible for strategic planning, promoting organisational goals and policy positions to key audiences including high-level government officials and multilateral institutions.
With the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals the international community has made fantastic strides toward the holy grail of development: the elimination of poverty. While derided by some as unfocused and overly ambitious, the 17 Goals and 169 targets demonstrate a willingness not only to think big, but to consider the multifaceted nature of development and its interlocking components. Indeed, even critics would be hard-pressed to decide which of the goals should be eliminated to narrow the agenda’s focus. Would it be Goal 11 – Make resilient cities? Or, perhaps, Goal 5 – Achieve equality for women and girls? Any attempt at deconstructing the SDGs would be pure folly.