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MDG Countdown 2012

In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and to extend hope and opportunity to millions across the developing world.

This pledge evolved into the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) with an ambitious path to reach them by 2015:

MDG Countdown 2012 - click to view video

Millennium Development Goals Countdown 2012 - Click to view video

End extreme poverty and hunger;
Achieve universal primary education;
Promote gender equality;
Reduce child mortality;
Improve maternal health;
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
Ensure environmental sustainability; and
Develop a global partnership for development.

The world has met two MDG targets well ahead of the 2015 deadline:

Reducing poverty by 50 percent and
Halving the proportion of people with no safe drinking water.

On Wednesday, September 26, Administrator Shah will co-host with Justine Greening, the new UK Secretary of International Development the MDG Countdown 2012 event to celebrate the successes and milestones in reaching these goals. The event will bring to life the enormous development advancements made on the way to achieving the MDGs and feature innovators from across the development community who will share their experiences of transformative programs and policies. The panel will be moderated by Laura Trevelyan, BBC News, with perspectives from Amina Mahoammed, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Post-2015 Development Planning.

We have learned much while working toward these goals – calling on innovation in technology, medicine, social policy, and service delivery – to bring about dramatic reform and change. While the MDG targets remain formidable, historic and global leaps in human development are underway as we progress closer to 2015.

The challenges involved in meeting the remaining MDGs by 2015 remain daunting. Yet doing more of the same will simply not take us where we need to be by 2015. For this reason, we must be even more determined, strategic and focused on results as we chart the path to 2015. We are also looking forward, utilizing innovative breakthroughs, integrated approaches and strategic partnerships to achieve unprecedented progress in development within a generation.