With five years remaining until the deadline of 2015, there is a heightened sense of urgency to gear up our efforts in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals.The year 2010 is a critical milestone in the countdown to 2015, and at the UN MDG Review Summit which took place in September, heads of nations reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the progress towards achieving the MDGs by consolidating the lessons learned through the past 10 years of development experience.

The Regional Initiative on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Development of the Asia Pacific Regional Centre,

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) form a blueprint agreed to by 189 member states of the UN and major international development agencies at the Millennium Summit in 2000. They define a series of concrete, well defined quantitative targets across key development sectors which are to be met by the year 2015.

While there have been concerted efforts by the Governments to achieve the Goals, which had made definite progress, much more needs to be done in the remaining five years to achieve these objectives.

Millennium Development Goals: True or False Cards

With 5 years remaining until 2015, we are at the critical junction for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Marking the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Declaration, heads of states will once again gather at the High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs to be held in New York in September 2010, to review the progress so far and develop a concrete plan of action for the next five years. Urgently needed now is that we take stock of our achievements as well as challenges in the past so that the lessons learned will lead to accelerated progress towards achievement of the MDGs.

Evolution of the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Declaration of 2000 set out an ambitious international agenda to tackle peace and security, development, human rights, and the environment. Alongside development goals on poverty, water and education, commitments were also made to promoting democracy and respect for all human rights. This included the right to development and relevant economic, social and cultural rights, with a particular focus on the rights of minorities, women and migrants, and the right to access to information.

At the United Nations Millennium Summit in the year 2000, world leaders made a historic promise: they signed the Millennium Declaration, agreeing to work together to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people. For the first time, rich and poor countries agreed on a global compact and recognized their shared responsibility to end poverty and its root causes once and for all.

G-8/G-20 Pledge Important New Commitments to World’s Poorest, But Remain Silent on Past Unmet Promises

The last two decades have shown that it is possible to defeat the scourge of poverty. Progress has not been uniform across countries, and there have been setbacks and disappointments. But overall, the rate of progress in reducing poverty and in increasing access to basic health, education, water, and other essential services is unparalleled in many countries’ histories.

This manual is a guide for use in Parliaments and is intended to provide a set of practical tools for Parliamentary engagement with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This manual provides examples of mechanisms which have been used in Parliaments around the world in order to ensure that achieving the principles outlined in the MDGs remain at the forefront of the Parliamentary agenda, and gives tips for Parliaments on how to implement the mechanisms described in this handbook.

Urgent reform is needed. EU farm policies should help – not hinder – the achievement of important objectives such as reaching the Millennium Development Goals, ensuring environmental sustainability and improving social equity. As EU member countries enter into negotiations over the next EU budget, they should review the current subsidy levels that have led to ballooning deficits and spending. Now is the time to fundamentally reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which has resulted in waste and inequality at home and crippled developing countries abroad.