The adoption of the Millennium Declaration in 2000 by all 189 member states of the UN General Assembly was a defining moment for global cooperation in the 21st century. The Declaration sets out within a single framework the key challenges facing humanity at the threshold of the new millennium, outlines a response to these challenges, and establishes concrete measures for judging performance through a set of inter-related commitments, goals and targets on development, governance, peace, security and human rights.

In recognition of the need to translate this commitment into action, a broad interagency consultation arrived at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are the world’s time-bound, quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions—income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion—while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. Since their endorsement by the UN General Assembly in 2001, the MDGs have risen to the top of the development agenda, and are the common focus of priorities for the development community