The Causes of Poverty and the Search for Solutions - The Millennium Declaration

In September 2000, 189 member countries of the United Nations agreed to increase the state of human development, including reducing poverty, with the adoption of the Millennium Declaration. The Declaration itself includes a commitment to reducing the number of nuclear weapons, protecting the environment, and focusing attention on Africa. But the most significant section of the Declaration became known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a list of eight human development goals to be reached by 2015:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.

All eight MDGs involve poverty indicators directly or are linked to the problem of poverty in some way. The MDGs have become a standard way to gauge human development progress in all countries and regions of the world. Whether or not a country is "on target" to reach the goals by the 2015 deadline is a telling indicator in itself of the standard of living in that country. Since the adoption of the MDGs, some progress has been made toward achieving the goals. However, as the United FIGURE 2.1 Progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets by subregion "Progress towards the MDG Targets by Subregion," in the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005, http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/hunger/general/2005/1linsecurity.pdf (accessed April 10, 2006)Nations concedes, progress has been slow and uneven, with some regions moving forward and some actually falling behind.