Millennium Development Goals

In September 2000 world leaders from 189 nations agreed and signed the UN Millennium Declaration, binding them inter alia to a global project to decisively reduce extreme poverty in all its key dimensions.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that derive from the development part of the Declaration provide an agenda for global action. This agenda and the outcomes of the World Social Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Doha Development Agenda and the Monterrey Consensus are mutually supportive processes and essential building blocks of a worldwide partnership for sustainable development.

The EU has expressed its full commitment and dedication to the MDGs on several occasions. In June 2004, immediately after the accession of ten new Member States, the European Council declared that ‘The Union must continue to strengthen its leadership role in the fight against global poverty. The European Council expresses its concern at the faltering progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, especially in Africa. It reiterates that the EU will intensify its efforts to fulfil the commitments undertaken in Monterrey, including through the exploration of innovative sources of financing, and will strongly support UN attempts to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Goals ( Conclusions European Council, Brussels, 17-18 June 2004).

In Sub-Saharan Africa more than 360 million people continue to live on less than $1 a day.

Eight out of ten children in developing countries begin primary school but in many of the poorest countries less than half of them complete their primary schooling and the drop out rates are even higher for girls. Some 103 million children are still out of school and an estimated 70 countries are off track in achieving Universal Primary Completion by 2015, most of them in Sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Target-Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

In sub-Saharan Africa 13.000 children die every day before reaching their fifth birthday. The main factors related to this issue are malnutrition, environmental hazards (unsafe water, hygiene and indoor smoke) and unsafe deliveries - including exposure to HIV transmission - and malaria. Access to modern water and energy facilities have a significant impact in reducing the risks that unsafe water and in-door smoke have on diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory infections in children.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Each year 500.000 women die as a result of pregnancy, and millions more due to causes which are avoidable or easily treatable using existing inexpensive technologies. A significant proportion of infant mortality is associated with this poor maternal health.