Keyword 1 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — Objectives and Background —

Momentum for the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was created by the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000. Representatives from 189 countries, including 147 heads of state and government, attended the Summit and adopted the UN Millennium Declaration as a goal of the international community in the 21st century. The UN Millennium Declaration sets out challenges such as "peace and security", "development and poverty eradication", "environment", "human rights and good governance", and "special needs of Africa", and presents a vision of the role the UN should play in the 21st century.

The MDGs are a single, common framework, which integrate the UN Millennium Declaration and the international development goals adopted at major international conferences held in the 1990s. The MDGs list eight goals which should be achieved by 2015, including "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger", "achieve universal primary education", "reduce child mortality", "improve maternal health", and "ensure environmental sustainability". More specific targets and indicators for measuring their achievement are established under each goal.

The international community has, on various occasions, confirmed the importance of the MDGs and renewed its efforts for achieving the goals.

In 2005, a UN summit was held to follow-up on the UN Millennium Declaration, where world leaders confirmed that greater efforts will be made by all countries to achieve the MDGs. In 2008, half way towards the target year of 2015, the High-level Event on the MDGs was held at the UN, and roundtable sessions took place on the three themes of particular importance: "poverty and hunger"; "education and health"; and "environmental sustainability". And in 2010, five years from the MDGs deadline, leaders and ministers from around the world gathered for various meetings and discussed achievements and challenges to date towards meeting the MDGs as well as the specific approach which should be taken moving forward, as described in Section 1 of Chapter 2.

Countries and actors around the world are, in the pursuit of the common goals of the international community — the MDGs, discussing their visions for the world and the responsibilities of each and every country, and furthermore, taking action.