The eight Millennium Development Goals lie at the heart of DFID’s work.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight specific goals to be met by 2015 that aim to combat extreme poverty across the world.
These goals were created at the UN Millennium Summit in New York in 2000. The largest gathering of world leaders in history.
The Millennium Declaration, adopted by the world leaders, promised to: "free all men, women, and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty."
The MDGs are drawn from the Millennium Declaration.
The declaration was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state. Find out more about the MDGs and follow progress:
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
