Investing in Development; A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals

THIS IS THE synthesis report for the UN Millennium Project which is advising the United Nations on how to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It stresses that these ambitious goals can be met and outlines what needs to be done to meet them.
The Millennium Project was commissioned by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and directed by Jeffrey D Sachs. This synthesis volume is supported by a further 13 thematic volumes presenting strategies for action on poverty reduction, health – including HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and medicine – water and sanitation, improving the lives of slum dwellers, trade, education, science and technology and environmental sustainability. (The volumes on improving the lives of slum dwellers and on water and sanitation are also described in Book Notes).
After listing the eight Millennium Development Goals and 18 targets (the editorial in this issue has a summary of these goals and the main targets) and ten key recommendations, the rest of the report is divided into four parts. Part I focuses on why the MDGs are important and what progress is being made (with only a decade to go before most of the targets have to be met). It also discusses the shortfalls in progress towards achieving the goals, where these are, and what the different reasons are for them – for instance, poor governance (including poor policy choices and denial of human rights), and local and national economies too poor to make needed investments.
Part II, which makes up most of the report, discusses the country-level processes needed to achieve the MDGs – for instance, MDG-focused poverty reduction strategies, public investments in human capital, scaling up impacts, better governance, and the contributions of civil society and the private sector. There is also a chapter on Africa’s special needs. This section develops the rationale for increasing aid flows and for a greater focus on meeting goals that have great importance for low-income groups. It highlights the need for more donor coherence within each nation.
Part III has recommendations for the changes needed in global systems to support more prosperity among low-income nations, including debt relief, less protected rich-world markets, and launching “a decade of bold ambition”, which includes identifying “quick-win” initiatives and countries where progress can be fast-tracked. Part IV discusses the resources needed to meet the MDGs, and both the danger of inaction and the benefits from acting boldly.