Intoduction to Millenium Development

Introduction to the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals have gained currency, primarily in development circles but increasingly in related trade and finance circles. Many actors are now counting on the Goals, commonly referred to as the "MDGs," to galvanize disparate and sometimes competing development agendas, as the Goals are becoming a powerful political tool to hold governments and international institutions accountable.

During the Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000, all 189 UN Member States adopted the Millennium Declaration, which contained a core group of goals and targets, some of which were later refined through the Roadmap towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration: Report of the Secretary General to the General Assembly (A/56/326, September 2001), through which have emanated the MDGs. These eight goals are essentially centered on national targets for poverty, education, gender equality, and environmental sustainability, but also include targets for establishing an international trade and finance policy framework that favors development. Numerical targets have been set for each goal, which are to be achieved by 2015.

Over the last two years, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has taken the lead in building up political support for the MDGs. This support was evident during the International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in which the international financial institutions (IFIs), World Trade Organization (WTO), UN agencies and scores of governments highlighted their importance. While some civil society organizations (CSOs) were initially more circumspect with regard to the MDGs as a concept, they too have entered the debate and are beginning to explore if and how the MDGs might fit programmatically into national and international strategies.

Under the guidance of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mark Malloch...