The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
By | May 29, 2007
During the Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000, all 189 UN Member States adopted the Millennium Declaration, which contained a group of goals and targets that have since become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals, working together, aim to halve poverty by 2015.
The Goals include measurable, time-bound targets addressing poverty and hunger, education, maternal and child health, the prevalence of diseases including HIV/AIDs, gender equality, the environment, debt, trade justice and aid. This article is sourced from the excellent website for the Micah Challenge – a network of which we are a part through Micah NZ. There are some excellent resources available through these sites.
If you would like to read the progress report on the status of the MDGs, you can get it here http://unstats.un.org/.
The Anglican Position
The official position of the Anglican Church is determined through General Synod. For those who are interested, the Anglican Church resolved at the last meeting of its General Synod (2006) to support the MDGs. This means our official position is in active support of these goals.
The Millennium Declaration
The MDGs are derived from the broader “Millennium Declaration” that was signed in 2000 by all UN member states. Please take a moment to scan the Millennium Declaration. It reaffirms values including equality, mutual respect, and shared responsibility for the condition of all peoples. It relates the MDGs to an even a broader context, including peace and human rights. Go to the Millennium Declaration
The Goals
Goal 1: Hunger
- Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day
- Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Goal 2: Ensure access to primary schooling for all children
- Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the number of children 5 years old or younger who die from preventable illnesses
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the number of women who die giving birth
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
- Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
- Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
- By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development (trade/aid/debt)
- Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
- Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) [Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA (Overseas Development Assistance) for countries committed to poverty reduction]
- Address the Special Needs of landlocked countries and small island developing States (through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the 22nd special session of the General Assembly)
- Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
- In co-operation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth
- In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries
- In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
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“Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets.” Num. 11:29
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