S.
Rengasamy - Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals –
History, importance, goals, strategies and targets
Evolution of millennium declarations: back ground
 World summit for children-1990
 ICPD, 1994
 International development goals, 1996
 Millennium summit declarations, 2000
Paradigm shift in concept & definition of development
 Basic concept of development
 Indicators of development
 Defining developing and developed countries
 Concept of purchasing power parity (PPP) and gross national income per capita in PPP (US $)
 Changing concept of development: A historical perspectives
 Human resources development and human development
 Dimension of human development
 Measurement of human development: HDI, HPI and GDI
 Linking MDGs to human development
The millennium development goals: an overview
 List of goals and indicators
 Global scenario of MDGs
 Current scenario of MDGs: developing and developed countries, regional scenario, country
specific scenario
Overview of Millennium Development Goals
History
A three day summit held on 6-8 September,2000 at
New York was the largest-ever gathering of world
leaders. The World leaders unanimously adopted a
"United Nations Millennium Declaration"
(http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e
.htmat) the conclusion of their Millennium Summit.
The Declaration was the main document of the
Summit and it contained a statement of values,
principles and objectives for the international agenda
for the twenty-first century. It also set deadlines for
many collective actions.
In an address delivered at the concluding meeting of
the Summit, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan told world leaders that it had sketched out
clear directions for adapting the Organization to its
role in the new century. “It lies in your power, and therefore is your responsibility, to reach the
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) were developed as an outcome of
the United Nations Millennium Summit in
September 2000, drawn from the
Millennium Declaration which was adopted
by 189 nations
The eight Millennium Development Goals
represent an agreed agenda for both
developing and developed countries,
working together in partnership, to
reduce poverty and advance human
development in a range of critical areas
by 2015. The MDGs have become a key
international mechanism for development
planning and measuring the effectiveness
of aid. The eight MDGs are accompanied
by a set of twenty specific targets—revised
in October 2007 when the United Nations
General Assembly adopted four additional
targets—and sixty indicators effective from
15 January 2008.
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goals that you have defined”, he declared. "Only you can determine whether the United Nations
rises to the challenge. For my part, I hereby re-dedicate myself, as from today, to carrying out

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Eradicate Extreme
Poverty & Hunger

Develop a Global Partnership for Achieve Universal

Development Primary Education
3
7
Millennium
Development
Goals (MDG)

Ensure Environmental Promote Gender Equality &

Sustainability Empower Women
6
4

Combat HIV/AIDS Malaria Reduce Child

& Other Diseases Mortality

Improve Maternal
Health

your mandate."

The Declaration reaffirmed Member States' faith in the United Nations and its Charter as
indispensable for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. The collective responsibility of the
governments of the world to uphold human dignity, equality and equity is recognized, as is the
duty of world leaders to all people, and especially children and the most vulnerable.

The leaders declared that the central challenge of today was to ensure that globalization becomes
a positive force for all, acknowledging that at present both its benefits and its costs are unequally

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shared. The Declaration called for global policies and measures, corresponding to the needs of
developing countries and economies in transition.

Four Core Themes of the Millennium Development Goals

Four core themes encompass the eight Millennium Development Goals. Each theme addresses two of the
goals, as illustrated in the diagram below.

Global Developmental Issues

Poverty Education Health Sustainable

Development

MDG 1 MDG 2 MDG 5 MDG 7

Eradicate extreme Achieve universal Improve maternal Ensure

poverty and hunger primary education health environmental
sustainability
MDG 4 MDG 3 MDG 6
MDG 8
Reduce child Promote gender Combat HIV and
Develop a global
mortality equality & AIDS, malaria and
partnership for
empower women other diseases
development

The Summit Declaration cited freedom, equality (of individuals and nations), solidarity,
tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility as six values fundamental to international
relations for the twenty-first century.

Goal one: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiDavidGordon_poverty.pdf
Indicators
Target 1a: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day
 1.1 Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day
 1.2 Poverty gap ratio
 1.3 Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
Target 1b: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and
young people
 1.4 Growth rate of GDP per person employed
 1.5 Employment-to-population ratio
 1.6 Proportion of employed people living below $1 (PPP) per day
 1.7 Proportion of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment
Target 1c: Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
 1.8 Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age
 1.9 Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption

Areas of Understanding and Action

 Definition of poverty and hunger: Absolute and relative poverty, malnutrition and under nutrition.

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Source of data on poverty

• National measurement on poverty: Poverty headcount ratio (% of population living below
national poverty line), goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity
of measurement, limitations
• International measurement on poverty: Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day, goals
and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity of measurement, international
data comparison, limitations
• Poverty gap ratio: Goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity
of measurement, International data comparison, limitations
• Alternative measures of poverty: Malnutrition and under nutrition, under weight of children,
prevalence of underweight children under five years of age, goals and targets addressed, rationale,
methods of computation, periodicity of measurement, international data comparison
• Proportion of the population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (under
nourishment): goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity of
measurement, international data comparison, limitations
• Measurement of poverty using consumer durables (From DHS, MICS etc)
• Goals, target and indicators of poverty: base year, current level and projection
• Rate of actual progress and rate of required progress in poverty reduction
• Levels, trends and differentials in poverty in developing countries
Goal Two: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Indicators
Target 2a: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary
schooling
 2.1 Net enrolment ratio in primary education
 2.2 Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach last grade of primary
 2.3 Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds, women and men

Areas of Understanding and Action

• Basic concept on literacy rate, youth literacy rate, adult literacy rate, gender gap in literacy
rate, goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity of
measurement, International data comparison, limitations
• Concept of gross enrolment ratio
• Net enrolment ratio: Methods of computation of net enrolment ratio in primary
education, goals and targets addressed, rationale, periodicity of measurement,
international data comparison, limitations
• Continuation rate: Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reaches grade 5: definitions,
goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity of measurement,
international data comparison, limitations
• Source of data on enrolment and literacy
• Factors affecting the school enrolment in developing countries
• Levels, trends and differentials in school enrolment in developing countries
• Levels, trends and differentials in literacy rates in developing countries
• Indicators of MDGs on primary education: base year, current levels and projections

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Goal Three: Promote gender equality and empowerment of women

Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empowerment of women
Indicators
Target 3a: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education
preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015
 3.1 Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
 3.2 Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
 3.3 Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

Areas of Understanding and Action

• Concepts and definitions of gender equality
• Concepts and definitions of gender empowerment
• Gender inequality in education: Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary
education and youth literacy rate, goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of
computation, periodicity of measurement, international data comparison, limitations
• Gender inequality in wage employment: Share of women in wage employment in the
non agricultural sector, goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation,
periodicity of measurement, international data comparison, limitations
• Gender inequality in political process: proportion of seats held by women in national
parliament, goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity of
measurement, international data comparison, limitations
• Theoretical and empirical evidences on gender differentials in school education, youth
literacy rate, mortality, wage and parliament representations from developing countries
• Gender based violence
• Gender stereotyping

Goal Four: Reduce child mortality
Goal 4. Reduce child mortality
Indicators
Target 4a: Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among
Children under five
 4.1 Under-five mortality rate
 4.2 Infant mortality rate
 4.3 Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles

Areas of Understanding and Action

• Defining infant mortality (neo natal and post neo natal mortality), child mortality and
under five mortality, computation of infant mortality and child mortality, targets
addressed, rationale, goals, periodicity of measurement of Infant and child mortality
• Levels, trends and differentials of infant and child mortality in developing countries
• IMR and CMR as indicators of development: strength and weakness
• Factors affecting infant and child mortality: theoretical and empirical evidences (Mosley
and Chen‟s framework)
• Strategy to improve the infant mortality and child mortality

Goal Five: Improve maternal health

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Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Indicators
Target 5a: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
 5.1 Maternal mortality ratio
 5.2 Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
Target 5b: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
 5.3 Contraceptive prevalence rate
 5.4 Adolescent birth rate
 5.5 Antenatal care coverage (at least one visit and at least four visits)
 5.6 Unmet need for family planning

Areas of Understanding and Action

 Defining maternal health and reproductive health
• Measuring maternal health (maternal mortality ratio and maternal mortality rate)
• Levels, trends and differentials of maternal mortality in developing countries
• Targets addressed, rationale, goals, periodicity of measurement of maternal mortality
ratio and birth attended by skilled health professionals
• Factors affecting maternal mortality in developing countries: selected examples
• Strategy to improve maternal health

Goal Six: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases:

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases:
Indicators
Target 6a: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
 6.1 HIV prevalence among population aged 15-24 years
 6.2 Condom use at last high-risk sex
 6.3 Proportion of population aged 15-24 years with comprehensive
correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS
 6.4 Ratio of school attendance of orphans to school attendance of non-orphans
aged 10-14 years
Target 6b: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
 6.5 Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to antiretroviral drugs
Target 6c: Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
 6.6 Incidence and death rates associated with malaria
 6.7 Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets
 6.8 Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-malarial drugs
 6.9 Incidence, prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
 6.10 Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under directly observed treatment short course

Areas of Understanding and Action

• Definition, basic concepts and components of reproductive health: Family planning,
maternal care, STIs/RTIs/HIV/AIDS
• HIV/AIDS in world: Epidemiological situation, attitude and stigmas associated with
HIV/AIDS, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS-young people, mobile population, injecting drug
users (IDUs).
• Definitions, goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation, periodicity of
measurement, international data comparison and limitations
• Epidemiological transition with respect to malaria, tuberculosis and other non

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communicable diseases: Goals and targets addressed, rationale, methods of computation,

periodicity of measurement, international data comparison and limitations of data on malaria
and other major diseases
Goal Seven: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Indicators
Target 7a: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and
programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
Target 7b: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
 7.1 Proportion of land area covered by forest
 7.2 CO2 emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)
 7.3 Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
 7.4 Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits
 7.5 Proportion of total water resources used
 7.6 Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
 7.7 Proportion of species threatened with extinction
Target 7c: Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
 7.8 Proportion of population using an improved drinking water source
7.9 Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility
Target 7d: Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020
 7.10 Proportion of urban population living in slums
Areas of Understanding and Action

 Defining sustainable development 
• Causes of environmental degradation in developing and developed countries,
sustainability of eco system
• Indicators used in measuring environmental sustainability
• Linkages between population, resources and environment- the pathways: (a) sub-division,
(b) depletion and (c) degradation of renewable resources
• Trends in population size, growth and availability of agricultural land, land under forest
cover and clean water
• Trends in urbanization and urban environmental problems sanitation, solid waste, air
pollution and urban health
• Linkage between population, consumerism and environmental degradation

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Indicators
Target 8a: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable,
non-discriminatory trading and financial system
 Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty
reduction – both nationally and internationally
Target 8b: Address the special needs of the least developed countries
 Includes: tariff and quota free access for the least developed countries' exports;
enhanced programme of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) and
cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction
Target 8c: Address the special needs of landlocked developing 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 twenty-second special session of the General Assembly)
Target 8d: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national
and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term

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Areas of Understanding and Action

• Partnership: partnership for knowledge and new technology, partnership for financial
resources
• Official development assistance (ODA): global trend in ODA, limitation of ODA
• Market access: market access for developing countries in global export, foreign
direct investment
• Debt sustainability
• Partnership for a regional and south-south partnership
Linkages among MDGs:
• Linkages between poverty and child mortality
• Linkages between poverty and human development
• Linkages between maternal health and child survival
• Linkages between gender equality and development

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Table: Millennium Development Goals –Targets & Indicators
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Goals and Targets
(from the Millennium Declaration)
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people whose income is less than one
dollar a day
Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015,children everywhere,
boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course 7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5
of primary schooling
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 4: 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
Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and
2015, the under-five mortality rate
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Target 6: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and
2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to
reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to
reverse the incidence of malaria & other major diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable
development into country policies and program and
reverse the loss of environmental resources
Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people
without sustainable access to safe drinking water
Target 11 By 2020, to have achieved a significant
improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum
dwellers
Indicators for monitoring progress
1. Proportion of population below $1 (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
5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary
energy consumption
6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education
8. Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds
9. Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary
education
10. Ratio of literate females to males of 15-24 year-olds
11. Share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural
sector
12. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
13. Under-five mortality rate
14. Infant mortality rate
15. Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against
measles
16. Maternal mortality ratio
17. Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
18. HIV prevalence among 15-24 year old pregnant women
19. Condom use rate of the contraceptive prevalence rate
20. Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDSc
21. Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
22. Proportion of population in malaria risk areas using
effective malaria prevention and treatment measuresd
23. Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
24. Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under
directly observed treatment short course (DOTS)
25. Proportion of land area covered by forest
26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to
surface area
27. Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $1 GDP (PPP)
28. Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita) and consumption of
ozone-depleting CFCs (ODP tons)
29. Proportion of population using solid fuels
30. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an
improved water source, urban and rural
31. Proportion of urban population with access to improved
sanitation
32. Proportion of households with access to secure tenure
(owned or rented)
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Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Target 12: Develop further an open, rule-based,
predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial
system Includes a commitment to good governance,
development, and poverty reduction – both nationally
and internationally
Target 13: Address the special needs of the least
developed countries Includes: tariff and quota free
access for least developed countries' exports; enhanced
programme of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of
official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for
countries committed to
poverty reduction
Target 14: Address the special needs of landlocked
countries and small island developing States (through the agricultural products and textiles and clothing from
Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the
twenty-second special session of the General Assembly)
Target 15: Deal comprehensively with the debt
problems of developing countries through national and
international measures in order to make debt
sustainable in the long term
Target 16: In co-operation with developing
countries, develop and implement strategies for decent
and productive work for youth
Target 17: In co-operation with pharmaceutical
companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs
in developing countries
Target 18: In co-operation with the private sector,
make available the benefits of new
technologies, especially information and
communications
Some of the indicators listed below are monitored
separately for the least developed countries (LDCs), Africa ,
landlocked countries and small island developing States.
Official development assistance
33. Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC
donors’ gross national income
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)
35. Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is
untied
36. ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their
GNIs
37. ODA received in small island developing States as
proportion of their GNIs
Market access
38. Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and
excluding arms) from developing countries and LDCs,admitted
free of duties
39. Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on
developing countries
40. Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as
percentage of their GDP
41. Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacitye
Debt sustainability
42. Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC
decision points and number that have reached their HIPC
completion points (cumulative)
43. Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$
44. Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and
services
45. Unemployment rate of 15-24 year-olds, each sex and total
46. Proportion of population with access to affordable essential
drugs on a sustainable basis
47. Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100
population
48. Personal computers in use per 100 population and
Internet users per 100 population
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Progress
Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven. Some countries have achieved many of the
goals, while others are not on track to realize any. The major countries that have been achieving
their goals include China (whose poverty population has reduced from 452 million to 278
million) and India due to clear internal and external factors of population and economic
development. However, areas needing the most reduction, such as the Sub-Saharan Africa
regions have yet to make any drastic changes in improving their quality of life. In the same time
as China, the Sub-Saharan Africa reduced their poverty about one percent, and are at a major risk
of not meeting the MDGs by 2015.Fundamental issues will determine whether or not the MDGs
are achieved, namely gender, the divide between the humanitarian and development agendas and
economic growth, according to the Overseas Development Institute.

To accelerate progress towards the MDGs, the G-8 Finance Ministers met in London in June
2005 and reached an agreement to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the IMF, and the
African Development Bank (ADB) to cancel an additional $40–55 billion debt owed by
members of the HIPC. This would allow impoverished countries to re-channel the resources
saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving health and education and for
alleviating poverty.

Backed by G-8 funding, the World Bank, the IMF, and the ADB each endorsed the Gleaneagles
plan and implemented the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative ("MDRI") to effectuate the debt
cancellations. The MDRI supplements HIPC by providing each country that reaches the HIPC
completion point 100% forgiveness of its multilateral debt. Countries that previously reached the
decision point became eligible for full debt forgiveness once their lending agency confirmed that
the countries had continued to maintain the reforms implemented during HIPC status. Other
countries that subsequently reach the completion point automatically receive full forgiveness of
their multilateral debt under MDRI.

While the World Bank and ADB limit MDRI to countries that complete the HIPC program, the
IMF's MDRI eligibility criteria are slightly less restrictive so as to comply with the IMF's unique
"uniform treatment" requirement. Instead of limiting eligibility to HIPC countries, any country
with annual per capita income of $380 or less qualifies for MDRI debt cancellation. The IMF
adopted the $380 threshold because it closely approximates the countries eligible for HIPC.

Yet, as we head towards 2015 increasing global uncertainties, such as the economic crisis and
climate change, have led to an opportunity to rethink the MDG approach to development policy.
According to the 'In Focus' Policy Brief from the Institute of Development Studies, the „After
2015' debate is about questioning the value of an MDG-type, target-based approach to
international development, about progress so far on poverty reduction, about looking to an
uncertain future and exploring what kind of system is needed after the MDG deadline has passed.

The effects of increasing drug use has been noted by the International Journal of Drug Policy as
a deterrent to the goal of the MDGs.

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Controversy over Funding of 0.7% of GNI

Over the past 35 years, the members of the UN have repeatedly made a "commit [ment] 0.7% of
rich-countries' gross national product (GNI) to Official Development Assistance."The
commitment was first made in 1970 by the UN General Assembly.
The text of the commitment was:
"Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development
assistance to the developing countries and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum net
amount of 0.7 percent of its gross national product at market prices by the middle of the decade."

However, there has been disagreement from the US, and other nations, over the Monterrey
Consensus that urged "developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts
towards the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNI) as ODA to developing
countries."

Support for the 0.7% Target

The UN "believes[s] that donors should commit to reaching the long-standing target of 0.7
percent of GNI by 2015".

The European Union has recently reaffirmed its commitment to the 0.7% aid targets. The EU
External Relations council says that, as of May 2005, "four out of the five countries, which
exceed the UN target for ODA of 0.7%, of GNI are member states of the European Union."

Many organizations are working to bring U.S. political attention to the Millennium Development
Goals. In 2007, The Borgen Project worked with Sen. Barack Obama on the Global Poverty Act,
a bill requiring the White House to develop a strategy for achieving the goals. As of 2009, the
bill has not passed, but Barack Obama has since been elected President.

Challenges to the 0.7% Target

However, many OECD nations, including key members such as the United States, are not
progressing towards their promise of giving 0.7% of their GNP towards poverty reduction by the
target year of 2015. Some nations' contributions have been criticized as falling far short of 0.7%.

John Bolton argues that the U.S. never agreed in Monterrey to spending 0.7% of GDP on
development assistance. Indeed, Washington has consistently opposed setting specific foreign-
aid targets since the U.N. General Assembly first endorsed the 0.7% goal in 1970.

The Australian Government has committed to providing 0.5% of GNI in International

Development Assistance by 2015-2016, without noting the long-standing 0.7% goal.
Challenges of the Millennium Development Goals

Although developed countries' aid for the achievement of the MDGs have been rising over the
recent year, it has shown that more than half is towards debt relief owed by poor countries. As
well, remaining aid money goes towards natural disaster relief and military aid which does not
further the country into development. According to the United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (2006), the 50 least countries only receive about one third of all aid that flows

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from developed countries, raising the issue of aid not moving from rich to poor depending on
their development needs but rather from rich to their closest allies.

Related Organisations
The Micah Challenge is an international campaign that encourages Christians to support the
Millennium Development Goals. Their aim is to "encourage our leaders to halve global poverty
by 2015."

8 Visions of Hope is a global art project that explores and shows how art, culture, artists &
musicians as positive change agents can help in the realization of the eight UN Millennium
Development Goals.

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