New Year’s resolution for progress: Focus on what works

As we close out the past year and look ahead to 2025, the holiday season is a time when we reflect on what we’ve achieved and how we can make next year better—achieve our personal goals, give back to our communities, and contribute to the betterment of the world.

When we give, there’s no shortage of noble causes, from alleviating poverty and improving education to protecting the environment and advancing health care. We should, in theory, all align around shared aspirations to make 2025 a year of progress for all.

But the hard truth is that global cooperation has struggled mightily over the past decade. In 2015, the United Nations (UN) came up with a 169-point agenda to fix all the problems facing humanity by 2030. The so-called Sustainable Development Goals were agreed upon by all the world’s leaders with the best of intentions.

Yet, with five years left, the world is wildly off-track on almost all the 169 promises. The fight against poverty, disease and hunger has lost momentum. Why aren’t we making more headway?

In large measure, because we try to do too much. Trying to focus on everything means we have prioritised nothing and achieved very little.

A new year offers a fresh opportunity. Instead of trying to do it all—both as a society but also as individuals with our own giving—we should focus first on the interventions that yield the most progress.

That means those that provide the highest returns on investment for people, the planet and future generations.

Catch

Here’s the catch: the best investments aren’t necessarily the ones that grab headlines or attract celebrity endorsements. I’ve worked with more than 100 of the world’s top economists and several Nobel Laureates to find which of the many global goals delivers the most return on investment.

Across hundreds of pages of peer-reviewed, free analysis, we have identified the 12 smartest things we could do to make life better for the poorer half of the planet. These solutions are seldom making headlines, but they are cheap and incredibly powerful.

When a pregnant mother lacks essential nutrients and vitamins, her child’s growth and brain development will be slower. Her children will be condemned to doing worse throughout their entire lives.

A mere $2.31 can ensure that an expectant mother receives a basic multivitamin supplement that means her children will grow up healthier, smarter, and more productive. Every dollar spent on nutritional supplements for pregnant women can yield up to $38 in economic benefits.

This is not a far-off utopia. It’s an actionable, proven solution that could be scaled up immediately.

Learning

Another simple but powerful investment is in improving learning. In the world’s poorest countries, only one in ten 10-year-olds can read and write.

We need to fix this, not just because it’s the right thing to do but to reduce future strife and reliance on aid, and to ensure countries can write their own success stories.

Most schools group children in classes by age, regardless of their ability. Some students struggle while others are bored.

The solution is simple but transformative: teach children individually at the right level.

Obviously, teachers can’t manage this for every child, but technology can. Just one hour a day in front of a tablet with educational software can teach reading, writing and basic math.

Countless studies show that even if the other seven hours of daily schooling remain traditional and ineffective after one year the student will have learned as much as normally takes three years.

The costs are modest: Sharing a tablet costs about $31 per student per year. 

The return on investment is extraordinary: Children who learn more become more productive adults, resulting in a return of $65 for every dollar spent. This is a great long-term investment for a more stable, self-sufficient world.

There is a compelling case to focus on tackling the diseases that have already been wiped out in rich countries, such as malaria and tuberculosis that have become diseases of poverty.

The simple act of providing more anti-mosquito bed nets and expanded malaria treatment across Africa would save 200,000 lives every year, with benefits worth $48 for every dollar spent.

Healthy, productive individuals are more likely to innovate, work and contribute to the world, ultimately benefiting everyone.

What works

As we approach the new year, we need to stop chasing grand lists of unachievable goals and focus on what’s working. Our resolution should be to direct whatever resources we have — our time, attention, money, or political will — towards the actions that bring about the greatest improvements in people’s lives.

In 2025, my hope for the world is that governments and institutions will finally stop dithering and focus on solutions that deliver the best returns. By concentrating on what works, we could achieve more in one year than we did in a decade of dithering.

As individuals, we can do our small part to make 2025 the year we resolve to get serious about progress for all.

The writer is the President of Copenhagen Consensus; Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. His latest book is "Best Things First".