UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released UN Millenium Development Goal 2012 Report

4th July 2012

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released United Nations Millenium Development Goal 2012. Report on 2 July 2012. The report noted that three important targets on poverty, slums and water have already been met three years ahead of 2015, the target year.

On the front of poverty, the report stated that for the first time since poverty trends began to be monitored, both the number of people living in extreme poverty and the poverty rates have fallen in every developing regionincluding sub‐Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. Preliminary estimates indicate that in 2010, the share of people living on less than a 1.25 dollar a day dropped to less than half of its 1990 value.

The target of providing clean drinking water to a substantial population of the world also saw a considerable achievement as the proportion of people using improved water sources rose from 76 per cent in 1990 to 89 per cent in 2010, which means more than two billion people across the world today have the access to sources of clean drinking water.

In developing world the share of urban population living in slums came down to 33 per cent in 2000 from 39 per cent in 2000.

The millennium development goal asserted that the developing countries have also marked considerable achievements in education as many more of the world’s children are enrolled in school at the primary level, especially since 2000. Girls have benefited the most.

On the front of AIDS control, the developing countries have achieved tremendous fate as at the end of 2012 nearly 6.5 million people in the developing countries were receiving the antiretroviral therapy for HIV AIDS.

What is UN Millenium Development Goal?
The UN Millenium Development Goal Report presents the most comprehensive global assessment of progress to date, based on data provided by a large number of international organizations within and outside the United Nations system. The aggregate figures in the report provide an overview of regional progress under the eight goals and are a convenient way to track advances over time. The report is coordinated and published by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The Millenium Development Goal has its origin in the Millennium Declaration produced by the United Nations following the Millennium Summit in 2000. The Declaration asserts that every individual has the right to dignity, freedom, equality, a basic standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and violence, and encourages tolerance and solidarity. In order to achieve its target of providing every individual a basic standard of living along with freedom, equality, the member nations had adopted the Eight goals which has to be achieved by 2015. The eight areas which comprises the UN Millenium Development Goal are as follows:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development