Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

            The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability.

History of (MDG)

“The central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force overall the   world’s people” - United Nations Millennium Declaration, September 8, 2000.

Origins of the MDGs

In 2000, the leaders of the world made a historic commitment: to eradicate extreme poverty and improve the health and welfare of the world's poorest people within 15 years. The commitment, adopted at the Millennium Summit in September 2000, was set forth in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. This vision was expressed in eight time-bound goals, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Monterrey Consensus

These goals and the commitments of countries to achieve them were affirmed in the Monterrey Consensus that emerged from the United Nations Financing for Development Conference, in March 2002, World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002 and the launch of the Doha Round on International Trade. This commitment forms the basis for the Millennium Development Compact, calling all stakeholders to orient their efforts towards ensuring the success of the goals within a framework of shared responsibilities.

Millennium Project

In 2002, the UN Secretary-General commissioned an independent advisory body, the Millennium Project, to develop a concrete action plan for the world to reverse the poverty, hunger and disease, affecting billions of people. Its final recommendations, investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals were presented to the Secretary-General in January 2005.

MDGs at the World Summit

In September 2005 at the UN World Summit in New York, more than 170 Heads of State and Government met to renew their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and agreed to take action on a range of global challenges. The principal outcome of this event was the reiteration of the strong and unambiguous commitment by all governments, to achieve the MDGs by 2015. The countries also expressed their agreement to provide immediate support for impact initiatives to support anti-malaria efforts, education, and healthcare, particularly through innovative sources of financing for development.  Some of the challenges addressed include: