The millennium development goals in Africa: Progress and challenges
August 2005
United Nations - Economic Commission for Africa
The urgent need to address poverty around the world and the opportunity provided by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have made them the rallying cry of a global partnership and the cornerstone of international and regional development policy. For the first time in history, a diverse range of players across the globe has agreed on a common platform of priorities for addressing the many faces of extreme poverty, hunger, joblessness, diseases, lack of shelter, gender inequality and environmental decline.
The MDGs are measurable targets attached to a timeframe for making a difference in the lives of billions of people. Governments in developing and developed countries have jointly committed themselves to provide the resources and the policies to implement these Goals.
African leaders have adopted the MDGs as a tool within their wider development planning framework, in order to end the tragic conditions in which so many Africans are deprived of their basic human rights, such as health, education, shelter and security. By making the Goals work as tools for coordinating development policy, within broader development priorities, African leaders can tackle the extreme poverty that is hobbling their people, make their countries more productive and reduce the risk of conflict.
Keywords: millennium development goals, Africa
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