A shared responsibility for eradicating poverty worldwide – that is at the core of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were derived from the Millennium Declaration in 2000. For the first time, the international community had set itself quantitative and verifiable targets in the fight against poverty. The eight MDGs are:

1. to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. to achieve universal primary education
3. to promote gender equality and empower women
4. to reduce child mortality
5. to improve maternal health
6. to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. to ensure environmental sustainability
8. to develop a Global Partnership for Development.

These concrete goals, based on broad international consensus, have gained extensive public support worldwide. Developments in recent years have also shown that other central themes of the Millennium Declaration, such as peace and security, human rights, good governance and democracy, have a major influence on the attainability of the MDGs.
At the same time, new challenges, such as climate change and the protection of global public goods, need to be addressed by the policies, strategies and specific approaches that are used to achieve the goals. As globalisation advances, the need for coherence among development policies is also becoming increasingly important.
 
Since the MDGs were agreed, international and national dialogues on reform processes in the partner countries have intensified. National strategies for poverty reduction, growth and development are important instruments for adapting the global development goals to national and local circumstances. GTZ advises Germany’s partner countries on drafting and implementing such strategies and, through numerous projects and programmes, contributes tangibly to the attainment of the MDGs.

• Pathway to Gender Equality
  A joint brochure by UNIFEM, BMZ and GTZ
  en-Gender-MDG.pdf, 1.14 MB (englisch)
• Kofi Annan Report
  "In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security
  en-report-largerfreedom.pdf, 0.27 MB (English)
• Millennium Development Goals: From Consensus to Momentum
  World Bank Global Monitoring Report 2008
  en-global-monitoring-report-2008.pdf, 7.37 MB (English)

Further information

• UN MDG website
  www.un.org/milleniumgoals
• Report of UN Millenium Projects
  "Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals"
  unmp.forumone.com/
• Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
  www.bmz.de/de/themen
• Action Programme 2015
  www.bmz.de/de/ziele/ziele/aktion_2015/
• The UN Millennium Campaign in Germany
  www.millenniumcampaign.de/