In the millennium year, 189 United Nations member states, including Australia, gathered together aiming to halve world poverty by So our world leaders came up with a plan; a blueprint for a better world. blueprint for a better world The plan sets 8 life-changing goals to bring about freedom from poverty for some of the world's poorest people. These goals are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Goal 1
Halve the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day
1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty
Progress
Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
850 million people suffer from hunger
Goal 2
Ensure that, by 2015, all children can complete primary school.
61 million children of primary school age are denied the right to an education
Progress
Goal 3
Ensure girls have the same access as boys to schooling
More girls than boys miss out on school
Progress
Equality for women in employment
70% of the world’s poor are women and girls
Goal 4
Reduce by two-thirds the under-five mortality rate
7.6 million children die before their 5 th birthday
Progress
Goal 5
Reduce by three-quarters the proportion of women dying in childbirth
32 women die every hour from childbirth or pregnancy related causes
Progress
Goal 6
Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015
2.7 million people were infected with HIV in 2010
Progress
Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases like tuberculosis
A child under the age of 5 dies every minute from malaria
Goal 7
Halve the proportion of people without access to improved water and sanitation
783 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water
Progress
2.5 billion people don’t have access to improved sanitation
Progress
Reverse the loss of biodiversity and environmental resources
Forests are lost at the rate of (roughly the land area of Bangladesh) 13 million hectares per year
Goal 8
Develop a trading and financial system that is fair
Reduce the burden of debt
How much of Australia’s Gross National Income is needed to help achieve the MDGs? 0.7% (70c out of every $100)
Find out more! For an interactive, multi-media experience of the MDGs please visit: Last updated Mar 2013
Picture credits: Maya Haviland Cristiana Ximenes Belo Phillip Gibbs Sean Sprague C. Lee Cindy Godden CAFOD Find out more about the MDGs, including stories and films, at: Last updated Mar 2013