The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that all 191 UN member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that all 191 UN member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000 commits world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women.

The Eight Millennium Development Goals are:

1. to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;

2. to achieve universal primary education;

3. to promote gender equality and empower women;

4. to reduce child mortality;

5. to improve maternal health;

6. to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;

7. to ensure environmental sustainability; and

8. to develop a global partnership for development.

The MDGs have proven that goal-setting can lift millions out of poverty, empower women and girls, improve health and well-being, and provide vast new opportunities for better lives.

The number of people now living in extreme poverty has declined by more than half, falling from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015.

The primary school net enrolment rate in developing regions has reached 91 percent in 2015, up from 83 percent in 2000.

The developing regions have achieved the target to eliminate gender disparity in primary, secondary, and tertiary education.

Women have gained ground in parliamentary representation in nearly 90 percent of the 174 countries with data over the past 20 years.

The global under-five mortality rate has declined by more than half, dropping from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2015.

Since 1990, the maternal mortality ratio has declined by 45 percent worldwide and most of the reduction occurred since 2000.

New HIV infections fell by approximately 40 percent between 2000 and 2013.

Over 6.2 million malaria deaths were averted between 2000 and 2015.

Between 2000 and 2013, tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis, and treatment interventions saved an estimated 37 million lives.

In 2015, 95 percent of the global population is using an improved drinking water source, compared to 76 percent in 1990. (Millennium Development Goals Report 2015). Considering all the facts mentioned above we can see that significant progress has been made in achieving many of the goals and targets. Some goals were even achieved earlier than it had been planned.

However not all the targets could be reached. For example, still, too many children are denied their right to primary education. The child and maternity mortality ratio decreased, not enough though to meet the target of the MDGs.

Despite progress, women continue to face discrimination in access to work, economic assets, and participation in private and public decision making. Gender parity in education still has a long way to go in some countries. Wide gaps remain in women’s access to paid work in at least half of the developing regions. Gender parity in politics also remains a distant target. A lot of people still live in extreme poverty and suffer from hunger.

I think it is great that so many world leaders support the MDGs and do their best to achieve the goals. However, time goes. Globalization has changed the world. It is no longer the world it used to be in the 2000s. Technology develops so fast that it is difficult sometimes to keep yourself updated. All of it raises new issues and new goals appear. I would definitely add something to stop the conflicts in different regions. It is very political, so I will not mention the countries. But those conflicts are the biggest threat to human development, with fragile and conflict-affected countries typically experiencing the highest poverty rates.

I would put the environmental problem higher on the list. We are destroying the Earth with our actions. Global warming is showing its power. Urgent actions need to take.

With the current events that are connected with the pandemic of COVID-19, we can see that the world needs to be United with stronger ties to support each other in difficult times. Every year a new virus appears Ebola, MERS, Covid-19, etc. The problem of health, fighting all the appearing viruses needs to be one of the tops.

References:

N/A. (n/a). Millennium Development Goals Report 2015. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/news.shtml