UN Millennium Development Goals

Definition

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) combined the UN Millennium Declaration adopted at the 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit and other global development goals adopted in the 1990s by major international conferences and summits. The MDGs set eight specific goals ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education by 2015.

At the September 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit in New York, representatives of 189 member countries, including 147 world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration that raised issues concerning peace and safety, development and poverty, the environment, human rights, good governance, and the special needs of Africa, and set down a clear role for the UN in the 21st century. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) integrated and combined developmental goals set forth by various international conferences

and summits held in the previous decade, and set specific objectives for a target achievement date of 2015 *1. The eight objectives are 1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, 2) achieve universal primary education, 3) promote gender equality and empower women, 4) reduce child mortality, 5) improve maternal health, 6) combat HIV/AIDS malaria and other diseases, 7) ensure environmental sustainability, and 8) develop a global partnership for development. In September 2005, the UN presented a five-years progress report, reaffirmed the goals, and recommitted to continuing effort toward achieving the MDG objectives *2.