Executive summary

The United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000, and associated Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) constitute an internationally agreed set of quantifiable and timebound goals to advance human development at the national and global levels. The Goals have shaped the UNDP programming framework to a considerable extent since 2000. Monitoring progress against their targets at national and regional levels through periodic reports has been a constant area of work over the period. In other areas of work, the extent of UNDP engagement has evolved over time. While the organization was initially focused on raising awareness and ensuring stakeholder buy-in for the Goals through a series of campaigns, after 2005 its focus moved to supporting the incorporation and mainstreaming of the Goals in national development strategies, including through estimating the cost of achieving them in specific countries, preparing macroeconomic frameworks that were consistent with the Goals or aligning poverty reduction strategies (PRSs) with them. Since 2010, UNDP has concentrated on directly supporting specific countries to close gaps in meeting particular Goals through the Millennium Development Goals Acceleration Framework (MAF).

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development