The Millennium Development Goals
In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders agreed to a set of timebound and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Placed at the heart of the global agenda, they are now called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Summit’s Millennium Declaration also outlined a wide range of commitments in human rights, good governance and democracy.
Goal 1 ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER
Reduce by half the proportion of people living at less than a dollar a day.
Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Goal 2 ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
Goal 3 PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN
Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015.
Goal 4 REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY
Reduce by two-thirds, the mortality rate of children under five.
Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.
Goal 6 COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES
Halt and begin to reverse by 2015 the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Halt and begin to reverse by 2015 the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
Goal 7 ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and program and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
Reduce by half, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Achieve, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
Goal 8 DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction;both nationally and internationally).
Address the special needs of the least developed countries (includes tariff-and quota-free access for exports enhanced program of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction).
Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions).
Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term.
In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries.
In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.
Cklick on the UN MDG webpage for more information http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/