The United States and the international community asked the United Nations to establish priorities for global development and poverty eradication. The UN responded by putting together eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at fighting the root causes of poverty, hunger, disease, and inequality. In the year 2000, all UN member countries committed to achieve these Goals by 2015.
United Nations Efforts to Achieve the MDGs
The MDGs are benchmarks agreed upon by all nations, but the UN and its agencies have a unique role in supporting all of the goals through their various and numerous projects at the country-level. The UN and its agencies have been instrumental in creating lasting programs to help countries achieve the goals by their set timeline. As the UN's global development network, the UN Development Program (UNDP) links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach the MDGs. UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on local solutions to global and building local capacity for meeting their national development challenges.
Halfway to 2015
July 2007 marked the halfway point to the 2015 deadline for reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The UN released its yearly report of where the world is in meeting the MDGs and this year's report is especially important because we are now at "halftime" between the 2000 UN Summit where these goals were agreed and the 2015 deadline to achieve them.
The UN report shows some progress, even in regions where challenges are the greatest, showing the unprecedented degree of commitment by developing countries and their donor partners to the MDGs. Poor countries have made great strides in getting kids in school, reducing poverty and hunger, boosting immunizations and maternal health services.
Successes thus far include:
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The proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from nearly a third to less than one fifth between 1990 and 2004.
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Women’s political participation in government around the world has been growing.
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More children are going to school in the developing world.
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Child mortality has declined globally.
Yet the July 2007 UN report found that overall success in meeting the MDGs is still far from assured and will depend in large part on whether developed countries make good on their aid commitments. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is putting pressure on all political leaders to take urgent and concerted actions to ensure that these Goals are a priority for every country – both donors and developing nations. In a statement at the release of the report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "The Millennium Development Goals remain achievable in most countries, but only if political leaders take urgent and concerted action." |
