Briefing Papers Number 10, September 2010 | Page 2

I

n 2000, world leaders agreed to an ambitious 15-year
agenda to meet the needs of the world’s poor people.1
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) generated unprecedented levels of commitment to dramatically cut
poverty and disease, improve access to education and health,
and promote gender equity and environmental sustainability. The MDGs also include strengthening the partnership
between developed and developing countries to make aid
delivery more effective. Setting a 2015 deadline to meet specific targets upped the ante for stronger accountability and
measurable results and outcomes.
Taking action during the remaining five years of the timeline is urgent, not merely because of a looming deadline but
because there is more momentum now to reach some key
targets. The poorest developing countries could potentially
not only cut poverty and hunger, but recast themselves as
partners and agents in development and even as new poles
of growth in a changing global landscape.2
Achieving the MDGs requires forging a new course for
global development, one that prioritizes success at the country level and shifts the focus from donors to country-led development.
This paper examines factors that have contributed to
country-level progress to date on the MDGs, with a focus on
national leadership and locally developed strategies. It also
considers the U.S. strategy for meeting the MDGs that was
announced in July 2010—a comprehensive plan for U.S. global leadership on the MDGs—and suggests ways the United
States can maximize its substantial investment in meeting
the goals.

A Decade in Review: Progress, Gaps,
and Opportunities in Achieving the MDGs
The U.N. summit on the MDGs in September 2010 can
point to some notable gains over the past decade. The U.N.
Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 highlights encouraging trends that may lead to success on some of the MDGs.3
Despite the global economic downturn, developing countries could succeed in halving extreme poverty: the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day could fall
to 15 percent by 2015.4 And in many of the poorest countries
in sub-Saharan Africa, more children are enrolled in school
than ever before.
Among the most touted country-level or regional MDG
successes to date:5
MDG 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger): Malawi
went from a 43 percent food deficit in 2005 to a 53
percent food surplus in 2007.
MDG 2 (achieve universal primary education): Since
2000, there has been a 16 percentage point improvement in net primary school enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa.
MDG 3 (promote gender equality and empower women):
Rwanda elected a parliament that is 56 percent female—the world’s first parliament with women in the
majority.
MDG 4 (reduce child mortality): the under-5 mortality
rate has been reduced by 50 percent or more since
1990 in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Eritrea, Laos,
and Nepal.
MDG 5 (improve maternal health): The maternal mortality ratio in Honduras dropped 40 percent between
1990 and 2005.
MDG 6 (combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases):
The proportion of HIV-positive pregnant women
in sub-Saharan Africa receiving antiretroviral drugs
increased from 10 percent in 2004 to 45 percent in
2008.
MDG 7 (environmental sustainability): South Africa cut
in half the proportion of urban people who lack access to safe wa ѕˊQ