The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) NEEDS - SS3 Economics Lesson Note

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were a set of eight international development goals established by the United Nations in 2000 to address poverty, hunger, disease, and lack of access to education and basic services in developing countries. The goals were to be achieved by 2015, and progress towards them was measured using a set of indicators. The MDGs were replaced in 2015 by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which build on the progress made under the MDGs and address a broader range of issues, including climate change and inequality.

The MDGs were developed in response to the needs of developing countries, which were facing a range of challenges related to poverty and underdevelopment. The goals were intended to focus international attention on these issues and mobilize resources to address them. The eight MDGs were as follows:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Achieve universal primary education

Promote gender equality and empower women

Reduce child mortality

Improve maternal health

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Ensure environmental sustainability

Develop a global partnership for development

Each goal had specific targets and indicators to measure progress towards achieving it. For example, the target for goal 1 was to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger, while the target for goal 2 was to ensure that all children, boys and girls alike, complete a full course of primary schooling.

The MDGs highlighted the urgent need to address the social, economic, and environmental challenges facing developing countries, and they helped to mobilize resources and political will to tackle these issues. While progress towards the MDGs was uneven across countries and regions, significant progress was made in many areas, including reducing poverty and hunger, increasing access to education and healthcare, and reducing child mortality.