Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals: Stepwise Benchmarking Approach

We present a multiple criteria decision aiding approach to monitor countries' progress on Sustainable Development Goals indicators and obtain policy measures for improvement. We do it using stepwise benchmarking, a method that provides recommendations on a country level and potential direction for improvement by providing direct and ideal benchmarks, pointing out areas where improvements can be achieved. The results from stepwise benchmarking are based on the underlying outranking procedure. To show the effectiveness of the approach, we used ELECTRE III as the method to rank European countries on the progress on equality of educational opportunities and then applied stepwise benchmarking to provide policy recommendations. This approach has the potential to evaluate progress and propose improvements to all aspects of the Sustainable Development Agenda.