Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals provide the entire United Nations System including the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with a blueprint to work coherently together towards a common goal to reduce poverty and improve lives. They set time bound targets, by which progress in reducing income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter and exclusion — while promoting gender equality, health, education and environmental sustainability — can be measured. They also embody basic human rights — the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter and security.

MDG Report

The Statistics Division of DESA coordinates the inter-agency group on MDG indicators that prepares and publishes the MDG Report. The report is the principal MDG monitoring report prepared by the United Nations System which presents the annual assessment of progress toward the 8 goals and 21 targets, based on the most updated data on the official MDG indicators. It is the most authoritative, comprehensive monitoring report, based on official data provided by national governments to the international statistical system.

Millennium Indicators

Within DESA the Statistics Division coordinates the preparation of data analysis to assess progress made towards the MDGs. The Division also maintains the MDG Indicators database containing the data series related to the selected indicators, as well as other background series intended to supplement the official indicators.

MDG Gap Task Force

The Secretary-General created the MDG Gap Task Force to track whether the commitments towards MDG8, to establish a global partnership for development to achieve MDG 1 to 7, are being met. More specifically, the main purpose of the Task Force is to systematically track existing international commitments and their fulfilment at the international and country level in the areas of official development assistance, market access (trade), debt relief, access to essential medicines and new technologies. The Task Force is co-chaired by DESA and UNDP, which published the MDG Gap Task Force Report in 2008 and 2009.

MDGs in the United Nations System

United Nations Millennium Development Goals web site serves as the gateway to the United Nations Systems work on the MDGs. The web site provides insight information on the MDG Targets and Indicators, official reports, statements and statistical information related to the MDGs, and links to information on the progress of various Departments and Programmes within the United Nations System.