# I. **Introduction**

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have enjoyed unusually widespread support and acceptance, from both developing and developed countries and from international development agencies, since their introduction in September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit. The appeal of the Goals is understandable, since they provide a view of a much improved world by 2015, where extreme poverty is cut in half, all children are in primary school and infant, child and maternal mortality are greatly reduced. (See Table 1) The Millennium Development Goals, however, have the opportunity to be **Table 1: Millennium Development Goals (1990-2015)** much more than an idealistic 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger statement of what the world would . Halve the proportion of people with less than one dollar a like to achieve. There are, in fact, day several hard-nosed reasons for the * Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger 2. Achieve universal primary education importance attached to the Goals by . Ensure that boys and girls alike complete pimary development practitioners, including: schooling

|ever,have theopportunitytobe<br> <br> <br>|**Table1:MillenniumDevelopmentGoals(1990-2015)**|
|---|---|
|h<br>more<br>than<br>an<br>idealistic|1.Eradicateextremepovertyandhunger|
|ementofwhattheworldwould<br> to achieve.Thereare, infact,<br>ralhard-nosedreasonsforthe<br>|.<br>Halve the proportionofpeoplewith lessthanone dollara<br>day<br>*<br>Halve theproportionofpeoplewho sufferfrom hunger<br>2.Achieveuniversalprimaryeducation|
|ortanceattachedtotheGoalsby<br>elopment practitioners,including:<br> <br>|.<br>Ensurethat boysand girlsalikecompletepimary<br>schooling|
|*<br>theresultsorientationencour-<br>agedbytheMDGs, whichshifts|3.Promotegender equalityandempowerwomen<br>Eliminategenderdisparityatalllevelsofeducation<br>4.Reduce child mortality|
|thefocusfrominputsandsector-<br>specificworktocross-sectoral<br>approaches anddevelopmentout-|.<br>Reducebytwothirdsthe under-fivemortalityrate<br>5.Improvematemalhealth<br>*<br>Reducebythreequartersthematemalmortalityratio<br>6.CombatHIV/AIDS, malariaandotherdiseases|
|comes;|.<br>Halt andreversethe spreadofHIV/AIDS|
|*<br>theincreased<br>emphasis<br>on<br>quantitativanalyis,f<br>|.<br>Haltand reversethespreadofmalaria&tuberculosis<br>omg7.Ensureenvironmental sustainability|
|<br>quantitativeanalysis,fromgather-<br>|<br>.<br>Integratesustainabledevelopmentintocountry policies|
|ingofbasicstatisticaldatato<br>monitoring<br>and<br>evaluation<br>of<br>policyandprogrameffectiveness;<br>poli<br> <br>|andreverselossofenvironmentalresources<br>.<br>Halve theproportionofpeople withoutaccesstopotable<br>water<br>cy an rgamef*Significantly improvethelivesofatleast100million|
|<br>*<br>theconsensustheyrepresent|<br>slumdwellers|
|regarding<br>a<br>core<br>agenda<br>for<br>development;and<br> <br>|8.Developaglobalpartnershipfordevelopment<br>.<br>Increase officialdevelopmentassistance,especiallyfor<br>countries applyingtheirresourcestopovertyreduction|
|*<br>theirpotentialroleinstreng-|.<br>Expandmarketaccess|
|theningdonorcoordination.|.<br>Encouragedebtsustainability|

In many contexts, setting goals and monitoring performance against agreed targets has proved to be a successful strategy for mobilizing resources and improving results. But for goals to be useful, they must be well defined and measurable; they must be agreed by those who set the strategies and appropriate the resources to pursue them; and they must be attainable under some plausible scenario. Findings from research and experience in development suggest that the policy environment is at least as important a component of success as financial assistance for countries trying to accelerate progress toward the Goals. Empirical studies on the health sector, for example, show there is only a weak relationship between public expenditures on health and health outcomes (Filmer, Hammer and Pritchett 2000). Improvements in service delivery, which reduce waste and increase the effectiveness of interventions, can greatly impact the likelihood that the Goals are met. The overall policy and institutional framework in a country is also a key determinant of the impact that additional foreign aid may have. Thus, if additional financial assistance were to be made available, it should be allocated to 2