"Looking ahead to 2015 and beyond, there is no question that we can achieve the overarching goal: we can put an end to poverty. In almost all instances, experience has demonstrated the validity of earlier agreements on the way forward; in other words, we know what to do. But it requires an unswerving, collective, long-term effort." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
GOOD: The UN Millennium Declaration Video
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
The 8 MDGs break down into 18 quantifiable targets that are measured by 48 indicators.
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Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
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Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
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Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
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Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
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Goal 5: Improve maternal health
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Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
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Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
While the global MDGs agenda has 2015 as its cut-off date, the specificities of the Palestinian situation, make projections for progress difficult to assess. Without progress on the political front, and without the removal of restrictions on access and mobility, conditions will become worse, and instead of reaching the MDGs, a downward spiral is likely.
Over the past eight years, progress has been achieved in almost all the areas covered by the MDGs. The rate of children not enrolled in primary education has been reduced to a single digit. The child mortality rate and maternal mortality rate are among the lowest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The poverty rate declined. And action on environmental issues was starting to gain momentum.
However, the outbreak of the Second Intifada on September 28th, 2000, has wreaked havoc with all these achievements. Regression in the indicators of health, education, gender, poverty, and environment characterizes the two years succeeding September 2000. The political unrest has inflicted damage to the social and economic infrastructure and diverted the attention from development efforts into relief and humanitarian aid. Implementation of most of the long-term development programmes has been affected by the conditions of strife in the oPt. By and large, the greatest challenge facing oPt is the widespread poverty afflicting more than two thirds of the Palestinian population.
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