MDGs

What are the MDGs?

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that 192 United Nations member states have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.  Find out how UNICEF is contributing to achieving the MDGs by clicking on the links below.

Post 2015: What Next 

The Millennium Development Goals are set to expire in 2015. Never before has a group of global goals so galvanized the world to fight poverty, disease and hunger. But What Next? 

The latest edition of Research Watch - UNICEF's Office of Research - brings together experts from almost all continents to examine the big issues. We asked more than 15 global experts their thoughts on what the next global development agenda should look like.  

Watch this studio debate to hear three of the world's top names on this issue debating what's next. 

the 8 goals

1.    Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target by 2015: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on under $1 a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
More than 30 per cent of children in developing countries – about 600 million – live on less than US $1 a day.
Every 3.6 seconds one person dies of starvation, usually a child under the age of 5.

2.    Achieve universal primary education
Target by 2015: Ensure all boys and girls complete their primary schooling.
As of 2001 estimates around 115 million children of primary school age, the majority of them girls, do not attend school.

3.    Promote gender equality and empower women
Target by 2015: Eliminate gender disparity at all levels of education by 2015 and empower women.
Two-thirds of the world’s 799 million illiterate adults ages 15 and over are women.

4.    Reduce child mortality
Target by 2015: Reduce child mortality by 2/3s, from 93 children of every 1,000 dying before age five in 1990 to 31 of every 1,000 in 2015.
About 29,000 children under the age of five – 21 each minute – die every day, mainly from preventable causes.

5.    Improve maternal health
Target by 2015: Reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters.
A woman dies from complications in childbirth every minute, about 529,000 each year, the vast majority of them in developing countries.

6.    Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Targets by 2015: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidences of malaria and other major diseases.
Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every 30 seconds.

7.    Ensure environmental sustainability
Targets by 2015: Reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
A child dies every 15 seconds from disease attributable to unsafe drinking water, deplorable sanitation and poor hygiene.
 
8.    Develop a global partnership for development

Why are they so important?

Many of the Millennium Development Goals talk about the need for each and every child to have access to basic human rights including health, education and protection. UNICEF believes that achieving the Millennium Development Goals is a critical step towards achieving a world fit for children.

The MDG Summit 2010

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to boost progress towards the  MDGs. 90 Heads of State and 49 Heads of Government will be attending, with an outcome document to be negotiated.

UNICEF is contributing to this summit by organizing a series of events, including roundtables and side events, focusing on each of the MDGs.

UNICEF has also released a landmark study which shows that the MDGs for children can be reached faster with focus on the most disadvantaged. This equity approach would also address the widening disparities that are accompanying progress toward the MDGs. View report.

The MDGs and the economic crisis

The impact of the economic crisis on poor countries makes it essential for New Zealand to sustain support for the MDGs.

“The global economic crisis makes tackling world poverty and building prosperity more urgent than ever; and a crisis of this magnitude can only be addressed through international cooperation”, agree Dennis McKinlay and Barry Coates, Executive Directors of UNICEF and Oxfam NZ.

Urgent action is needed

The world is behind schedule for meeting almost all of the MDGs.  The consequences of not meeting the Goals will be suffered most by children.  For example, if universal primary education is not achieved (MDG 2), millions of children will not be able to go to school and if changes aren't made to make clean water more accessible (MDG 7), children will continue to die from  preventable diseases. 

There is a lot of work to do, but experts agree, that meeting the Millennium Goals by 2015 is still achievable. Reaching them will require a stronger commitment and focus from all countries in order to bring about global development and peace.

UNICEF is working with partners around the globe to make sure that achieving the MDGs becomes a reality.

Email takeaction@unicef.org.nz to join UNICEF's Campaigners for Change and make the MDGs a reality.