Origins of the MDGs

In 2000, the leaders of the world made a historic commitment: to eradicate extreme poverty and improve the health and welfare of the world's poorest people within 15 years. The commitment, adopted at the Millennium Summit in September 2000, was set forth in the United Nations Millennium Declaration . This vision was expressed in eight time-bound goals, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Monterrey Consensus:

These goals and the commitments of countries to achieve them, were affirmed in the Monterrey Consensus that emerged from the United Nations Financing for Development Conference, in March 2002, World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002 and the launch of the Doha Round on International Trade . This commitment forms the basis for the Millennium Development Compact, calling all stakeholders to orient their efforts towards ensuring the success of the goals within a framework of shared responsibilities.

  Millennium Project:

In 2002, the UN Secretary-General commissioned an independent advisory body, the Millennium Project, to develop a concrete action plan for the world to reverse the poverty, hunger and disease, affecting billions of people. Its final recommendations, Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals were presented to the Secretary-General in January 2005.

UN World Summit:

In September 2005 at the UN World Summit in New York, more than 170 Heads of State and Government met. The principal outcome of this event was the reiteration of the strong and unambiguous commitment by all governments, to achieve the MDGs by 2015. The countries also expressed their agreement to provide immediate support for impact initiatives to support anti-malaria efforts, education, and healthcare, particularly through innovative sources of financing for development.

  High-Level Forum in Paris:

The third High-Level Forum on the Health MDGs, was held in Paris , France on the 14th-15th of November of 2005. The major topics discussed were: financial sustainability and fiscal space, global health partnerships and aid effectiveness, and health in fragile states. The aim of the High-Level Forum (HLF) on the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was to provide an opportunity for candid dialogue between senior policy makers and to identify opportunities for accelerating action on the health-related MDGs.

World Trade Organization Commitment:

In Lima, Peru, on January 31st, 2006, the World Trade Organization 's Director-General Pascal Lamy stated in relation to the results of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong that current negotiations must integrate the issues and concerns of developing countries “in every stage”. Developing countries also have the “opportunity to adopt and lock in reforms which underpin economic growth and development,” The MDGs have brought investment in people's health to the forefront of the global development agenda. They highlight the centrality of health as a tool to assist humanity with poverty and despair. This opens new opportunities for health organizations to gain wider support in their quest to improve health and play a key role in eliminating poverty and hunger.