Church of the Good Shepherd - Millenium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goals

What are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?

In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders agreed to a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Placed at the heart of the global agenda, they are now called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Summit's Millennium Declaration also outlined a wide range of commitments in human rights, good governance and democracy. The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and the entire world's leading development institutions, including the Episcopal Church USA. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world's poorest.

Why are the MDGs important?

According to the Millennium Development Goals Report for 2005, the MDGs are important for four reasons. First, the MDGs are people-centered, time-bound, and measurable. Second, they are based on a global partnership, stressing the responsibilities of developing countries for getting their own house in order, and of developed countries for supporting those efforts. Third, they have unprecedented political support, embraced at the highest levels by developed and developing countries, civil society and major development institutions alike. Fourth, they are achievable.