The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, the largest gathering of world leaders at United Nations Headquarters in New York adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration.
The Declaration, endorsed by 189 countries, committed their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and set out a series of targets to be reached by 2015 – that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The eight MDGs – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV and providing universal primary education have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.
“[The MDGs] also embody basic human rights—the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter and security. The Goals are ambitious but feasible and, together with the comprehensive United Nations development agenda, set the course for the world’s efforts to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015.”
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
- Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
- Achieve Universal Primary Education
- Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
- Reduce Child Mortality
- Improve Maternal Health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases
- Ensure Environmental Sustainability
- Develop a Global Partnership for Development