Introduction

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) are eight goals with measurable targets and clear
ideadlines for improving the lives of the world's poorest people set by the 189 UN member states
in September 2000 and agreed to be achieved by the year 2015 and commit the international
community to an expanded vision of poverty reduction and pro-poor growth, one that vigorously
places human development at the center of social and economic progress in all countries. The
leaders of 189 countries signed the historic millennium declaration at the United Nations Summit
in 2000 to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and
discrimination against women. The MDGs are derived from this Declaration, and all have
specific targets and indicators and at least 22 international organizations, committed to help
achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. These are the following; to eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger, to achieve universal primary education, to promote gender equality
and empower women, to reduce child mortality, to improve maternal health, to combat
HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, to ensure environmental sustainability and to develop a
global partnership for development. The MDGs are inter-dependent and all the MDG influence
health and health influences all the MDGs and each goal had specific targets, and dates for
achieving those targets. The final MDG Report found that the 15-year effort has produced the
most successful anti-poverty movement in history because since 1990, the number of people
living in extreme poverty has declined by more than half. The proportion of undernourished
people in the developing regions has fallen by almost half. The primary school enrolment rate in
the developing regions has reached 91 percent, and many more children are now in school
compared to 15 years ago. The Remarkable gains on MDG’s have also been made in the fight
against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and under-five mortality rate has declined by more
than half, and maternal mortality is down 45 percent worldwide. The target of halving the
proportion of people who lack access to improved sources of water was also met but because of
the concerted efforts of national governments, the international community, civil society and the
private sector have helped expand hope and opportunity for people around the world. Critics of
the MDGs complained of a lack of analysis and justification behind the chosen objectives, and
the difficulty or lack of measurements for some goals and uneven progress, among others.
Although developed countries' aid for achieving the MDGs rose during the challenge period,
more than half went for debt relief and much of the remainder going towards natural disaster
relief and military aid, rather than further development. Critics of the MDGs complained of a
lack of analysis and justification behind the chosen objectives, and the difficulty or lack of
measurements for some goals and uneven progress, among others. Although developed countries'
aid for achieving the MDGs rose during the challenge period, more than half went for debt relief
and much of the remainder going towards natural disaster relief and military aid, rather than
further development.
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The MDG goal number one is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The first goal is under
Youth, Employment and Migration; it is one of the MDG-F program areas. It has a three major
targets and it is to halve the proportion of people whose daily income is less than $1.25 (less than
60 pesos), to achieve full and productive employment, as well as decent work for all, including
young people and women and lastly to halve the proportion of individuals suffering from hunger
in the period between 1990 and 2015.This goal was also aiming to achieve full and productive
employment and decent work for all, including women and young people. The second goal
which is to achieve universal primary education has only one target and that is to ensure that
children universally including both boys and girls will be able to complete a full course of
primary education by 2015 because of the fact that rural children are highly affected by hunger
and malnutrition has also seriously affected their learning ability. As such, food security and
primary education should be addressed at the same time to give rural people the capacity to feed
themselves and overcome hunger, poverty, and illiteracy. Social protection brings together all
efforts for education and food security towards increased effectiveness. The third goal is to
promote gender equality and empower and the target for this goal is limited to gender parity in
primary and secondary education. MDG-F took a wider approach, addressing gender equality
and women’s empowerment as a requirement for the fulfillment of all the MDGs and it is
important to promote the total and equitable participation of both men and women in efforts
aimed at improving poverty reduction, food security, and sustainability of rural development.
Without gender equality and the economic and social improvement for rural women, food
security cannot be achieved. The fourth goal is to reduce child morality rates and the target for
this goal is to be able to reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five morality
rate. WHO is promoting four main strategies four the MDG4 which are (1) appropriate home
care and timely treatment of complications of newborn, (2) Integrated management of childhood
illness for all children under 5 years old (3) Expanded program for immunization and (4) infant
and young child feeding. There has been substantial progress in reducing child mortality over the
past 15 years, but not enough to achieve the goal of a reduction by two-thirds. Between 1990 and
2012, the child mortality rate almost halved, meaning that 6 million fewer children died in 2012
than in 1990. But while child mortality rates have fallen, progress has been too slow. According
to UN figures, it would take until 2028 to achieve MDG4 globally. Less than one-third of all
countries have achieved or are on track to meet the goal by the end of this year. Globally, the
most dangerous day in a child's life is the day it is born. As data indicate, preterm birth
complications are now the leading cause of under-five, accounting for 17% of all death in the age
group. Prematurity, which applies to babies who was born before 37 weeks, is an increasing
global problem faced by almost all countries with reliable data. The majority of premature babies
in high-income countries survive, but a lack of basic and cost-effective care such as
breastfeeding support, warmth and treatment for infections means the chance of survival is
reduced in low-income countries. The fifth goal is closely related to MD4 and its target is to
reduce maternal morality ratio by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015. It is measured through
prevalence of contraception, adolescent birth rate, antenatal care coverage and the unmet need
for family planning, which refers to the number of women who want but do not have access to
contraception. The world is likely to fall far short of the targeted 75% reduction in the number of
women dying due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth by 2015. The data collected so
far is from 1990 to 2013, and shows a 45% drop in the global maternal mortality rate. The World
Bank says that, of the eight millennium development goals, the one on maternal health has made
the least progress. The number of women in developing countries who saw a skilled birth
attendant at least once during their pregnancy increased from 65% in 1990 to 83% in 2012, but
only half of those women received the recommended four antenatal check-ups. Access to
antenatal care differs widely from region to region – 80% of women in south-east Asia and the
Caribbean reported at least four antenatal care visits, compared with 50% in sub-Saharan Africa
and only 36% in southern Asia. The sixth goal is to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major
diseases. MDG6 have two targets for HIV/AIDS. First is to halt and begin to reverse the spread
of HIV virus by 2015 and the second to achieve universal access to treatment for all those who
need it by 2010. Progress on these targets is measured by a range of factors, including HIV rates
among young people aged 15 to 24, rates of condom use, knowledge of HIV and Aids among
young people, and the number of people with advanced HIV infection who have access to
antiretroviral drugs. A third target aims to halt and reverse the spread of malaria and other major
diseases. This is measured by malaria incidence and related deaths, the proportion of children
under five sleeping under insecticide-treated nets, and the proportion of children under five with
fever who are treated with anti-malarial drugs. The only other major disease mentioned is TB,
the spread of which also needs halting and reversing by 2015 under MDG 6 indicators. Health
advocates argued that by focusing on 3 Big Killers, MDG 6 has neglected other diseases,
leaving them without the funding required to combat them. Progress for both Malaria and TB has
been significant but the diseases still remains a major killer in low-income countries. For
HIV/AIDS, slow but significant progress has been shown. Young people insufficient knowledge
and risky sexual behavior is the particular concern for the disease. The seventh goal is to ensure
environmental stability and its four targets focus on sustainable development, environmental
protection, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and improving the lives of millions of
people living in slums. The first target calls for the principles of sustainable development to be
integrated into “country policies and programs”, and for the reversal of the loss of environmental
resources and the second aims for a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
The third aims to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to
safe drinking water and basic sanitation and the final target seeks the achievement, by 2020, of a
significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. This goal showed the
great progress because access to improved drinking sources has risen from 76% of the world's
population in 1990 to 89% today, and access to improved sanitation has risen from 49% in 1990
to 63%. However, so much is still need to be done. Threatened species are continuously
declining both in population and distribution, despite of increase in the percentage of access to
improved drinking sources 663 million are still without drinking water, and increasing
urbanization has produced a rise in the overall number of slum dwellers from 689 million in
1990 to 792 million in 2000 and 880 million today. The eighth and last goal aims to develop
global partnership for development. MDG 8 consists of six targets that aim to redress the global
trading system, support the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked developing
countries and small island developing states, deal with countries’ debt burdens, improve access
to essential drugs and increase the availability of new technologies. The MDG8 attempts to cover
a broader range of issues than the other seven goals, and consequently has been criticized for
being too vague and all-encompassing. It was a late addition to the first draft of MDGs, after
leaders agreed there should be a goal focused on what the international community can do to
ensure the other seven goals were successful. United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
stated that “If the eighth goal is ignored, it is hard to imagine the poorest countries achieving
goals one to seven". Proponents of the goal argue that the global mechanisms that influence aid
flows, debt relief, access to the internet and mobile phones and essential medicines – such as the
World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Global Fund to Fight Aids,
Tuberculosis and Malaria – have to work together to fulfil the MDGs instead of deferring
responsibility to individual countries. Despite these intentions, MDG8 has been overlooked in
many of the wider discussions about the eight goals. One reason is the fact that monitoring the
targets in MDG8 has been difficult, and in some cases impossible. In the latest report from the
MDG gap taskforce, which was formed to improve the monitoring of MDG8, it was
acknowledged that one indicator had been included in the goal for which no data existed – the
share of population with sustainable access to essential drugs. The report also acknowledged that
a lack of time-bound, quantitative targets made monitoring the goal difficult. Despite all of this,
there are still great progress recorded for this goal. International aid for developing countries has
reached $135.2 Billion, external debt due to exporting dropped from 12% to 3% and 95% of the
world's population has access to mobile cellular data.