JCI and the UN Millenium Development Goals

What are the MDGs?
In September 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit, world leaders agreed to a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Placed at the heart of the global agenda, they are called the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and include eight main goals:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

The eight goals provide a framework for governments, businesses, organizations and citizens to work coherently together towards a common end. In this context, the world is making progress toward the MDGs, but it is uneven and too slow. A large majority of nations will reach the MDGs only if they get substantial support – advocacy, expertise and resources - from outside sources, such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like JCI.

Every year, JCI Organizations use the UN MDGs as a framework for positive change in the community. JCI members organize thousands of projects dedicated to advancing the goals. The MDGs provide a framework for targeting local problems to improve communities worldwide. What is your Organization doing to advance these goals? How can you as a JCI Member organize a local project to combat a community problem using the framework of the UN MDGs?

Each local project connected to the UN MDGs contributes to the global focus on reaching these goals. Start your local MDG project today!

Talk about your MDG-related projects on Facebook and Twitter to share MDG project ideas with JCI Members around the world.