The Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Declaration, ratified in 2000 by the 189 member states of the United Nations, committed rich and developing countries to work in partnership to achieve a set of critical development outcomes. Those commitments are embodied in the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015, supported by 18 quantified targets and 60 indicators measuring progress since 1990. Progress has been uneven and many countries will not reach the targets set for 2015, but others have met or exceeded the targets, improving the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
All regions but Sub-Saharan Africa are on track to reach the poverty reduction target
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Defined as average daily consumption of $1.25 or less, extreme poverty means living on the edge of subsistence. In 1990, more than 1.9 billion people lived on less than $1.25 a day. Since then, the poverty rate in developing countries has fallen from 43 percent to 22 percent in 2008, reducing the number of people in extreme poverty to less than 1.3 billion. Between 2005 and 2008, poverty rates fell in all six developing regions, the first time that has happened. By 2015, the global rate of extreme poverty is expected to be 16 percent and the number of people living in poverty will fall to around 1 billion. At the global level, the goal of halving the poverty rate has been reached, and all regions except Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to reach the target by 2015. Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education More than 20 years ago, the world community committed itself to providing at least a primary school education to every child. Providing all children with a good quality education is the foundation To reach the goal of universal primary education, children must remain in school
East Asia & Pacific
Middle East & North Africa
East Asia & Pacific
Middle East & North Africa
Europe & Central Asia
South Asia
Europe & Central Asia
South Asia
Latin America & Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
Latin America & Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
People living on less than $1.25 a day (%)
Primary school completion rate (%)
80
110
70
100
60
90
50
80
40 70
30
60
20
50
10 0
10
1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008
2015
Source: PovcalNet, an online poverty analysis tool developed by the World Bank (iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm), and Global Monitoring Report 2012
40
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics