In September 2000, 147 heads of State and Government, 191 nations in total, adopted the Millennium Development Declaration. The Declaration outlines peace, security and development concerns in the areas of environment, human rights, and governance. The Declaration sets forth a set of interconnected and mutually reinforcing development goals as a global agenda. The development goals contained in the Millennium Declaration and the International Development Goals are similar in some respects but different in others. Recently, these goals have been merged under the designation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The UN General Assembly has approved the MDGs as part of the Secretary General’s roadmap towards implementing the Millennium Declaration. The MDGs synthesise the goals and targets for monitoring human development.

In his report to the General Assembly in September 2006 [A/61/1] on the Work of the Organization the Secretary-General recommended the inclusion of four additional targets in the MDGs framework, with appropriate indicators to measure the progress towards them. Due consideration was given to the overall balance of topics and indicators covered by the MDG framework, with the objective of providing the right indicators to assess progress towards the new targets, while at the same time ensuring that the list be kept reasonably short. The revised MDG Framework, effective 15 January 2008.

• Eradicate 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