United Nations Millennium Development Goals
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest. From this site, explore the efforts of the UN and its partners for building a better world.
What's Going On?
38 countries meet MDG hunger target early
Chalking up successes ahead of the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 38 countries have met internationally-established targets in the fight against hunger.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva made the announcement at a press conference in Rome.
“These countries are leading the way to a better future,” he said. “They are proof that with strong political will, coordination and cooperation, it is possible to achieve rapid and lasting reductions in hunger.”
Building support for global learning
According to a new paper from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), progress in reducing the number of out-of school children is slowing down.
Data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report shows there were still 57 million children out of school in 2011, a drop of only 2 million from the previous year.
To tackle challenges to global learning, a high-level discussion will take place in New York on 11 June in support of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI). GEFI aims to raise the political profile of education, strengthen the global movement to achieve quality education and generate additional and sufficient funding through sustained advocacy efforts.
UN joins global leaders in new compact to eliminate malnutrition
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, world leaders, businesses, as well as civil society organizations joined forces to support the "Global Nutrition for Growth" compact, making concrete commitments to improve world nutrition. According to the document, "Addressing nutrition is of critical importance for achieving the MDGs, in particular the MDGs related to hunger, child and maternal health, and education."
The compact offers concrete actions supporting better nutrition globally over the next seven years. Donors secured new commitments of up to $4.15 billion to tackle under-nutrition up to 2020.
In a video message to the event, the United Nations Secretary-General said, "These commitments can support children’s development, help hundreds of millions of people and boost the economies of some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. The UN system and I will do everything within our power to see them fulfilled."
World Environment Day: Tackling global food waste
Senior United Nations officials urged everyone to play their part in decreasing food loss and waste for World Environment Day (WED), celebrated 5 June. “We live in a world of plenty, where food production outstrips demand, yet 870 million people are undernourished and childhood stunting is a silent pandemic. To create the future we want, we must correct this inequity,” the Secretary-General said in his message for the Day.
To help reduce food waste, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and public and private sector partners have launched the “Think.Eat.Save: Reduce Your Foodprint” campaign to raise global awareness and showcase everyday solutions that everyone can practice.
Complementing World Environment Day, UNEP and partners released a new report that highlights how investment in smallholder farmers can play a greater role in food security and can help lift over one billion people out of poverty.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2013
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a new report entitled, The State of Food and Agriculture 2013: food systems for better nutrition. New findings indicate that 12.5 per cent of the world’s population is undernourished in terms of energy intake. According to the study, “The traditional role of agriculture in producing food and generating income is fundamental, but agriculture and the entire food system – from inputs and production, through processing, storage, transport and retailing, to consumption – can contribute much more to the eradication of malnutrition.”