The United Nations often reminds us that the Millennium Development Goals, which leaders committed to at the UN Millennium Summit in New York in 2000, are lime-bound and measurable goals for socio-economic advancement". The eight MDGs come with a set of 18 specific targets and 48 indicators. They cover a broad spectrum, from halving absolute poverty and combating HIV, to getting all children to attend primary school, and saving mothers from and childbirth-related deaths.
But these all-important targets have failed to capture the popular imagination. Even among government officials, levels of awareness and enthusiasm vary considerably. The reason the MDGs are not catching on is clear: nobody is discussing them in simple terms.
Having worked with techno-geeks and development workers for years, this writer recognises that they have at least one thing in common: they speak a language that doesn't make sense to the rest of us. They bandy acronyms with incredibly ease – LDC, LLDC, SIDS, NSDS, PRSP, DOTS and TRIPS. And now MDG.
In mid-September, world leaders gathered at the UN in New York to review progress on the MDG programme and to renew their own commitments. But did the prime ministers and presidents even know what they were signing up for? The UN needs to demystify the MDGs so that the media and public can understand them. Here are some suggestions: