The Millennium Development Goals
Introduction
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, set targets to:
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| MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger | MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education |
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| MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women | MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality |
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| MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health | MDG 6: Combat HIV AIDS Malaria and Other Diseases |
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| MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability | MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development |
To achieve these goals, poorer countries pledged to improve policies and governance and increase accountability to their own citizens; wealthy countries pledged to provide the resources.
The MDGs are not just statements of intent – they are achievable. This is clear from the statistics in low-income countries, one out of every 10 children dies before the age of five, whereas in wealthier nations, this number is only one out of 143. And the lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth is one in 22 in Africa, one in 120 in Asia, and one in 3,800 for a fifteen year old girl in developed countries.
Through a programme of participatory women’s groups, Women and Children First and our partners, are enabling women to get access to skilled care in pregnancy and childbirth, and to learn how to care for their babies and older children. This low-cost programme is demonstrating that it is possible to make rapid, significant progress in reducing the number of deaths and improving the health of mothers and children, helping to achieve the targets of MDG 4, to reduce child mortality, and MDG5 to improve maternal health.
Millennium Development Goal 4
Reduce Child Mortality
Target: Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the mortality rate of children under five
Indicators:
- Under-five mortality rate
- Infant mortality rate
- Proportion of one year-old children immunised against measles
For information on progress, read the Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival
Millennium Development Goal 5
Improve maternal health
Targets:
- Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
- Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
Indicators
- Maternal mortality ratio
- Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
For information on progress, read Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival
Saving Lives
Over a quarter of a million women and three million newborn babies die each year in pregnancy and childbirth or soon afterwards, the majority of them in Africa and South Asia. For every woman who dies at least twenty more suffer complications which leave them with lifelong disability and pain.
Our unique programmes are saving the lives of mothers and babies every day. We need you to help us to equip women with their most vital survival tool: knowledge.
