Introduction to the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals and the International Development Agenda  -   TVP Manual - Section 1:Informing and Setting the Vision -

see Handbook Index

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In September 2000, the United Nations Assembly unanimously adopted the UN Millennium Declaration. It was an 8 goal agenda that all 192 Member States agreed to adopt.

We, the humanity of the third Millennium, have achieved that technological, economic and political progress from where we can no longer justify hunger and the exclusion of millions from basic health and education.

In 2000, the international community acknowledged that it has a duty to recognise the fundamental rights of those who are being excluded from the benefits of progress. At the United Nations Assembly, all countries committed themselves to a work agenda that would tackle the most evident factors of poverty and injustice. They set 8 goals, they set 21 targets, they set timelines, they allocated funds: and in order to verify if they were being honest with their commitments, they set a number of indicators upon which they asked to be judged. And for the first time in world history, a concrete work agenda for the rights of the voiceless was universally agreed.
 

The MDGs today provide a framework for the UN system and for synergizing the various international cooperation activities in a coherent worldwide effort.

 The MDG targets have become an integral part of Global indicators for development.  Each year, an annual report is prepared that assesses the progress made by member states in fulfilling the pledges they made. (For more information on the Millennium Development Goals, see the  MDGs on the UN web site; get the latest updates on MDG twitter page; or MDG Facebook)

Although the UN has a key role to play in addressing the challenges and in tracking the global progress towards these goals, it is National Governments that have the responsibility to achieve the MDG targets. Thousands of programmes and projects have been operational, involving a large amount of human and technical resources. However, the resources and efforts have proved to be inadequate; and the progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals has been uneven and slow. Many countries finally did not allocate the resources that they had committed to. And the  international media did not pay much attention to the MDGs, so  the general public is little informed about them.  There is a growing concern that many targets will not be achieved within the set deadline of the year 2015 .

 

The Eight Millennium Development Goals are:

• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• 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

 

In the documentary we present the answers and the ideas we have been collecting on the ground.

• Episode 1 - MDG 1 - Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Episode 2 - MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education  

• Episode 3 - MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Episode 4 - MDG 4 Reduce child mortality

• Episode 5 - MDG 5: Improve maternal health                 

• Episode 6 - MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases                 

• Episode 7 - MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Episode 8 - MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development 

• Episode 9 - New Goals 1 - Recognise and protect our diverse identities and our common heritage

• Episode 10 - New Goals 2 - Improve the health of the global communication climate

 

 

Testimonials Interviewed by the TVP Documentary team in India, A.K. Shiva Kumar traces back the history of MDGs and the influence that the HumanDevelopment Movement, led by UNDP and started by Prof. Sen and Dr. Mahbub ul Haq, has on the formulation of the MDGs. Dr. Shiva Kumar also speaks about the debates that took place on MDGs in the year 2000 and of how they appear to be objectives only of the poor countries. What should the objective of a developed country be? He remembers that although there was tension at the beggining, ther is no denying that these eight goals are fundamental for the developing world and that there must be a collective effort to achive these goals. And the lesson that the world had learned is the interconnectedness of these goals.   {{#ev:youtube|kKRpGfLDp8E|200}}   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKRpGfLDp8E

 

 

 

Resources The Millennium Declaration In the 2000 Millennium Declaration, United Nations Member States committed to building a better World in the 21st century. They reaffirmed that pledge at the 2005 World Summit and rallied around a common vision that focused on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, extending primary education to every child, ensuring that women have the same opportunities as men, improving the health of mothers and children, averting new cases of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, achieving a sustainable environment, establishing a new global partnership for development that engages the private sector and civil society organizations, and making the benefit of new technologies available to everyone.   www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm www.mdgmonitor.org/

 

 

Other Resources Officially called the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly, the review summit on the Millennium Development Goals was held in New York on  20 – 22 September 2010.  “Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs” the Secretary-General stated in his report in preparation for the September summit. “Our challenge today is to agree on an action agenda to achieve the MDGs.” Here's the Summit websites Summit website: http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/ Video (2007): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vddX4n30sXY from BBC:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11364717  :  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11378583 ;  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11375847 The French President Nicolas Sarkozy' s speach: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/09/2010920151454657766.html The US Presdent Barak Obama's speech - /www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/22/remarks-president-millennium-development-goals-summit-new-york-new-york http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/09/2010920151454657766.html Report on La Repubblica - Italian: www.repubblica.it/solidarieta/cooperazione/2010/09/22/news/onu_40_miliardi_di_dollari_per_salute_di_donne_e_bambini-7304380/  Caritas on Summit for MDGs, 20-22 Sept 2010 : italian: http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/it1/Articolo.asp?c=423783 ;  english:http://www.caritas.org/newsroom/press_releases/PressRelease16_09_10.html ;  Caritas voices against poverty" campaign:  http://mdg2015.caritas.org

 

 

Testimonials Vincenzo Pira, expert of International Cooperation and support to Human Sustainable Development (Armadilla ONG) makes his analysis the day after the Summit of New York (20 - 22 sept 2010) on MDGs.   Interview on Youtube (Italian language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOA0HS2ScYU Written interview: http://www.TVP.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Vincenzo_Pira_-_Bilancio_dopo_Summit_MDGs_2010 Playlist on TVPproject Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8A4B63C93BFE41F6

 

Testimonials Bertolini, Fernando - Visiting Professor at the University of Mogadiscio, and Culture Officer at the Italian Embassy of New Delhi (India) - makes a deep analysis of the future of MDGs - Read his very interesting article, written for TVP, Italian language - "Obiettivi di sviluppo umano del Millennio: siamo ancora in tempo?".   Read the article writtenby Fernando Bertolini, Italian language: http://www.TVP.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Bertolini,_Fernando_-_%22Obiettivi_di_sviluppo_umano_del_Millennio:_siamo_ancora_in_tempo%3F%22

 

 

Testimonials Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), most commonly known by his stage name Bono, is an Irish singer and musician, best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2.  Bono has become one of the world's best-known philanthropic performers. In an article first appeared in the NY Times on Sept 18th 2010. Bono says that "The M.D.G.’s are possibly the most visionary deal that most people have never heard of. In the run-up to the 21st century, a grand global bargain was negotiated at a series of summit meetings and then signed in 2000. The United Nations’ “Millennium Declaration” pledged to “ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world’s people,” especially the most marginalized in developing countries. It wasn’t a promise of rich nations to poor ones; it was a pact, a partnership, in which each side would meet obligations to its own citizens and to one another." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/opinion/19bono.html?pagewanted=1 http://www.repubblica.it/solidarieta/cooperazione/2010/09/20/news/a_che_punto_sono_i_nostri_sogni_per_il_millennio-7239444/   http://www.bonostreetteam.com/2010/09/millennium-development-goals-summit.html

 

 

 

Related links:

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
the official site ⇒ http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals -  http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml
The Millennium Declaration
The Millennium Indicators Database – charting progress
UN Development Group (UNDG)
UN Millennium Development Goals site
UN system
UN system – an introduction by students