Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/1, the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the United Nations system, has the honour to submit the report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The present report is the first annual report on the topic and provides a global overview of the current situation regarding the Sustainable Development Goals, on the basis of the latest available data for indicators in the proposed global framework. The report also highlights the theme of the 2016 session of the high-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, “Ensuring that no one is left behind”, through examples of disaggregated data that pinpoint where specific population groups are lagging behind. Finally, the report provides information on the methodologies used for the compilation of global indicators as well as an overview of data availability and statistical challenges.