What are the major problems in implementing MDGs?

Why is Gender important for achieving MDGs?

Leading from the Millennium Declaration, the eight Millennium Development Goals were drawn up under the leadership of the then UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

The Goals are as follows:

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
8. To develop a global partnership for development

The 8 goals are guided by 18 targets and measured by 48 indicators. A time-frame was set out to achieve the MDGs goals by 2015. The first seven goals focus on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, Education, Health, Environment and promoting gender equality and empowering women, the eighth goal calls for the creation of a global partnership for development, with targets for aid, trade, and debt relief.

MDGs are important because of joint commitment of the nation states towards development of their countries and their people. It is the first time in world’s history that development goals are agreed on such a large scale and collective efforts are put towards achieving, monitoring and evaluating these goals.  Also this is necessary to mention that these goals are the basic guidelines for development and there is ample flexibility. Meaning that as different countries have their different pressing problems, they are free to define their own development goals. For that purpose many countries have defined their localized millennium goals and targets and they are working towards realizing those goals.

MDGs are special and unique too. ‘Special’ because they provide a common vision and a framework of defined and agreed development goals, and ‘unique’ because of their time bounding. A common vision and framework pushes a lot of things like mobilizing resources, setting direction for funding, active monitoring and evaluating etc. And the time bondage is a pressing factor that pushes for trying hard to achieving the target.

Useful sites:

1. ‘http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.shtml‘  ‘, accessed on : November 20, 2009
2. ‘Millennium Development Goals ‘ , available at:  ‘  http://www.developmenteducation.ie/mdg/ ‘, accessed on:
3. ‘Can the MDGs make poverty history? ‘ , available at:  ‘http://www.eudevdays.eu/event_coverage/articles/millennium_development_goals_en.htm ‘, accessed on : November 20, 2009