The UN Sustainable Development Goals provides a shared aspirational blueprint for achieving economic prosperity for all nations and a sustainable future for the planet. There are 17 goals that recognize that ensuring economic prosperity and preserving the environment starts with removing inequities, creating opportunities, and making sure that basic services like health and education are available to all.

 One of the challenges while working towards these goals is identifying appropriate social metrics that can be used to track progress, identify gaps, and at the same time provide a standard way to benchmark and compare status across regions and nations. A standard way of benchmarking allows for transparency in policy and directed investments that can have the maximum impact on the most vulnerable populations. Once the investment is made, the same metrics can now quantify the impact and the return on investment.