The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - What they are

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals.

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. They are also basic human rights-the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security.

Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

The world has made significant progress in achieving many of the Goals. Between 1990 and 2002 average overall incomes increased by approximately 21 percent. The number of people in extreme poverty declined by an estimated 130 million 1. Child mortality rates fell from 103 deaths per 1,000 live births a year to 88. Life expectancy rose from 63 years to nearly 65 years. An additional 8 percent of the developing world's people received access to water. And an additional 15 percent acquired access to improved sanitation services.

But progress has been far from uniform across the world-or across the Goals. There are huge disparities across and within countries. Within countries, poverty is greatest for rural areas, though urban poverty is also extensive, growing, and underreported by traditional indicators.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicenter of crisis, with continuing food insecurity, a rise of extreme poverty, stunningly high child and maternal mortality, and large numbers of people living in slums, and a widespread shortfall for most of the MDGs. Asia is the region with the fastest progress, but even there hundreds of millions of people remain in extreme poverty, and even fast-growing countries fail to achieve some of the non-income Goals. Other regions have mixed records, notably Latin America, the transition economies, and the Middle East and North Africa, often with slow or no progress on some of the Goals and persistent inequalities undermining progress on others.

Goals, targets and indicators

The internationally agreed framework of 8 goals and 18 targets was complemented by 48 technical indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. These indicators have since been adopted by a consensus of experts from the United Nations, IMF, OECD and the World Bank. 

Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty

Indicators

1. Proportion of population below $1 (1993 PPP) per day 

2. Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty] 

3. Share of poorest quintile in national consumption 

4. Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (UNICEF-WHO)

5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (FAO)

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Indicators

6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education (UNESCO)

7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 (UNESCO)

8. Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds (UNESCO)

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Indicators

9. Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education (UNESCO)

10. Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old (UNESCO)

11. Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (ILO) 

12. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament (IPU)

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality

Indicators

13. Under-five mortality rate (UNICEF-WHO)

14. Infant mortality rate (UNICEF-WHO)

15. Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles (UNICEF-WHO)

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

Indicators

16. Maternal mortality ratio (UNICEF-WHO)

17. Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (UNICEF-WHO)

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

Indicators

18. HIV prevalence among pregnant women aged 15-24 years (UNAIDS-WHO-UNICEF) 

19. Condom use rate of the contraceptive prevalence rate (UN Population Division) c*

19a. Condom use at last high-risk sex (UNICEF-WHO)

19b. Percentage of population aged 15-24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS (UNICEF-WHO) 

19c. Contraceptive prevalence rate (UN Population Division)

20. Ratio of school attendance of orphans to school attendance of non-orphans aged 10-14 years (UNICEF-UNAIDS-WHO)

21. Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria (WHO)

22. Proportion of population in malaria-risk areas using effective malaria prevention and treatment measures (UNICEF-WHO) 

23. Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis (WHO)

24. Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (internationally recommended TB control strategy) (WHO)

Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Indicators

25. Proportion of land area covered by forest (FAO)

26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area (UNEP-WCMC)

27. Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $1 GDP (PPP) (IEA, World Bank)

28. Carbon dioxide emissions per capita (UNFCCC, UNSD) and consumption of ozone-depleting CFCs (ODP tons) (UNEP-Ozone Secretariat)

29. Proportion of population using solid fuels (WHO)

30. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural (UNICEF-WHO)

31. Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural (UNICEF-WHO)

32. Proportion of households with access to secure tenure (UN-HABITAT)

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Indicators

33. Net ODA (Official development assistance), total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors' gross national income (GNI)(OECD)

34. Proportion of total bilateral, sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation) (OECD)

35. Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied (OECD)

36. ODA received in landlocked developing countries as a proportion of their GNIs (OECD)

37. ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs (OECD)

38. Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing countries and from LDCs, admitted free of duty (UNCTAD, WTO, WB)

39. Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from developing countries (UNCTAD, WTO, WB)

40. Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP (OECD)

41. Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity (OECD, WTO) 

42. Total number of countries that have reached their Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) decision points and number that have reached their HIPC completion points (cumulative) (IMF - World Bank) 

43. Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative (IMF-World Bank)

44. Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services (IMF-World Bank)

45. Unemployment rate of young people aged 15-24 years, each sex and total (ILO) 

46. Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis (WHO)

47. Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population (ITU)

48. Personal computers in use per 100 population and Internet users per 100 population (ITU)