Millennium Development Goals
At the Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000, Heads of State adopted the Millennium Declaration and a core group of goals and targets. The eight goals highlighted in the Declaration are a set of clearly-defined, measurable and broadly-endorsed development objectives essentially centered on national targets for poverty, education, gender equality, and environmental sustainability. International organizations, governments, civil society groups and the private sector have all coordinated their development work around the MDGs, which are to be achieved by 2015.
At the World Summit held in September 2005 in New York, world leaders agreed on further actions needed to fulfill the commitments articulated in the Millennium Declaration and accelerate progress towards achieving the MDGs.
Overview of the 2005 World Summit
Achievements in Brief
Sexual and Reproductive Health and the MDGs
Three of the eight MDGs relate to reproductive health and set out specific targets and corresponding indicators for achieving gender equality; improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS. However, the MDGs do not fully capture sexual and reproductive health issues and the broader objectives highlighted in the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (1994).
Yet, the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document contains important gains for SRHR. It reaffirms a global commitment to the Cairo goal of “universal access to reproductive health by 2015” and calls for the integration of reproductive health into strategies to achieve the MDGs. Therefore, governments will not only be obliged to continue working toward ensuring universal access to reproductive health, but also incorporating reproductive health services into development plans and policies at the national level.
Useful Resources on SRH and the MDGs
What's New
Millennium Development Goals Report 2006
UN Millennium Project SRH Report
The UN Millennium Project has released a new report on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 'Public Choices, Private Decisions: Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals' underscores the importance of investing in better SRH as an integral part of achieving the MDGs. The report outlines a number of recommendations to integrate sexual and reproductive health in national development strategies to reduce poverty and promote human development.
The 2006 Global Monitoring Report on the Millennium Development Goals subtitled Strengthening Mutual Accountability – Aid, Trade and Governance highlights economic growth, better quality aid, and trade reforms, as well as governance as essential elements to achieve the MDGs.
Interview With Jeffrey Sachs, U.N. Millennium Project Director, Johannesburg, 20 March 2006
In this IRIN News interview, Jeffrey Sachs discusses how the project is helping developing countries achieve the MDGs, including supporting around a dozen countries in preparing MDG-based national development strategies.
UN Millennium Project's Handbook
The UN Millenium Project has electronically launched its UN Millennium Project's Handbook on preparing MDG-based national development strategies as called for at the 2005 World Summit. The Handbook translates the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project and lessons learned through the project's country advisory work into a manual that can assist developing countries in preparing their own MDG-based strategies.
Human Development Report 2005
This year's Human Development Report reviews progress towards the MDGs and suggests that extreme inequality between countries and within countries is identified as one of the main barriers to human development—and as a powerful brake on accelerated progress towards the MDGs.
National MDG Reports - Latest country reports
2005 World Summit Outcome
Following weeks of negotiations and numerous draft texts, Heads of State meeting at United Nations in New York on 14-16 September approved a final outcome document based on a set of proposals outlined in March 2005 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his report 'In Larger Freedom'. The final document contains two references to reproductive health under HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other health issues, and Gender equality and empowerment of women.
UN Resources
Additional Resources
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