Millennium Development Goals: Goals, Targets and Indicators, Poverty, Education, Mortality, Maternal, Diseases, Sustainability

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  • The World Leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 agreed to eight specific and measurable development goals which later came to be known as the Millennium Development Goals.
  • The summit՚s commitment was to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015.
Illustration: Millennium Development Goals: Goals, Targets and Indicators, Poverty, Education, Mortality, Maternal, Diseases, Sustainability

Mnemonics used Earning Affects PRICE GDP - Eradicate Extreme Poverty (Targets 2) Achieve (Target 1) Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women (Target 1) Reduce Child Mortality (Target 1) Improve Maternal Health (Target 1) Combat HIV⟋AIDS Malaria and Other Diseases (Targets 2) Ensure Environmental Sustainability (Targets 3) Global Partner for Development (Targets 7)

Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty

  • Target 1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than a day.
  • The indicators include Proportion of population below $ 1 (1993 PPP) per day (World Bank) , Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty] (World Bank) and Share of poorest quintile in national consumption (World Bank) .
  • Target 2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
  • The indicators for Target 2 include Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (UNICEF-WHO) and Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (FAO) .

Achieve Universal Primary Education

  • Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
  • The indicators for target 3 include Net enrolment ratio in primary education (UNESCO) Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 (UNESCO) , Literacy rate of 15 - 24 year-olds (UNESCO) .

Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

  • Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.
  • The indicators are Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education (UNESCO) , Ratio of literate women to men, 15 - 24 years old (UNESCO) , Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector (ILO) , Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament (IPU) .

Reduce Child Mortality

  • Target 5. Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.
  • The indicators under target 5 are Under-five mortality rate (UNICEF-WHO) , Infant mortality rate (UNICEF-WHO) and Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles (UNICEF-WHO) .

Improve Maternal Health

  • Target 6. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.
  • Maternal mortality ratio (UNICEF-WHO) , Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (UNICEF-WHO) are the indicators under target 6.

Combat HIV⟋AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

  • Target 7. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV⟋AIDS.
  • HIV prevalence among pregnant women aged 15 - 24 years (UNAIDS-WHO-UNICEF) , Percentage of population aged 15 - 24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV⟋AIDS (UNICEF-WHO) , Contraceptive prevalence rate (UN Population Division) and Ratio of school attendance of orphans to school attendance of non-orphans aged 10 - 14 years (UNICEF-UNAIDS-WHO) are the indicators under target 7.
  • Target 8. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
  • The indicators under target 8 include Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria (WHO) , Proportion of population in malaria-risk areas using effective malaria prevention and treatment measures (UNICEF-WHO) , Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (internationally recommended TB control strategy) (WHO) .

Ensure Environmental Sustainability

  • Target 9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
  • The indicators include Proportion of land area covered by forest (FAO) , Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $ 1 GDP (PPP) (IEA, World Bank) , Carbon dioxide emissions per capita (UNFCCC, UNSD) and consumption of ozone-depleting CFCs (ODP tons) (UNEP-Ozone Secretariat) and Proportion of population using solid fuels (WHO) .
  • Target 10. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
  • Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural (UNICEF-WHO) , Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural (UNICEF-WHO) are the indicators under target 10.
  • Target 11. Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
  • The indicator includes Proportion of households with access to secure tenure (UN-HABITAT) .

Develop a Global Partnership for Development

  • Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system.
  • Target 13. Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries.
  • Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. This target consisted of the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions .
  • Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures.
  • The indicators under target 15 include Net ODA (Official Development Assistance) , total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD⟋Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors gross national income (GNI) (OECD) , 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) (OECD) , Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP (OECD) , Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative (IMF-World Bank) , Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services (IMF-World Bank) etc.
  • Target 16.In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth. The indicator includes Unemployment rate of young people aged 15 - 24 years (both men and women) .
  • Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries. The indicator under target 17 includes Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis (WHO) .
  • Target 18. In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies. The indicators include Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population (ITU) and Personal computers in use per 100 population and Internet users per 100 population (ITU) .