Millennium Development Goals

In September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, 189 member nations came together to make the alleviation of poverty and the fulfillment of human rights their highest priorities. This unprecedented agreement spawned the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—eight objectives to accelerate human development, achieve universal equality, and attain a more peaceful world by 2015.

While ambitious, the MDGs are achievable, but only through a global concert of efforts among groups and individuals at all levels. The responsibility does not rest on the shoulders of developing countries alone. Developed nations must also take ownership of the MDGs and support policies and initiatives that strive to meet them.

The world in 2015 will be one of our own making: a reflection of our shared success—or failure—to meet the Goals and ensure that all people have the means to fulfill their individual potential.