About: Millennium Development Goals

Spanish politicians hash out sustainability goals

Seven Spanish politicians have met to discuss the positions of their respective parties in relation to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, ratified in September. EURACTIV's partner El País - Planeta Futuro reports.

WHO: More work needed to eradicate tuberculosis

A new study by the WHO has shown that the number of tuberculosis cases per year has nearly halved, but that there is still a lot of work to be done. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Statistical changes lead to cuts in global poverty

The World Bank has changed its poverty indicator and lifted 200 million people out of extreme poverty. Critics have said this change calls into question recent progress in poverty reduction. EURACTIV France reports. 

Germany seeks leading role in implementing SDGs

This weekend at a UN summit, ambitious new targets for reducing poverty are on the agenda for 2030. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants Germany to be a front runner in the fight against hunger. EURACTIV Germany reports.

EU divided over abortion in development policy

Promoting sexual and reproductive rights within development policy is not a straightforward exercise for countries like Malta and Hungary. France is working to establish a common EU position before the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 26 May. EURACTIV France reports. 

Sustainable development goals: Central, but unnoticed

The world’s sustainability goals for 2030 are currently being debated at the United Nations HQ in New York, a key negotiation that will largely decide where development aid will flow over the next 15 years. But in Germany, hardly anyone has paid attention. Der Tagesspiegel reports.

Post-2015 development agenda inspires 291 Parliament amendments

A six-page draft resolution on financing for the EU's post-2015 development aid agenda has attracted 291 amendments from MEPs, a total of 135 pages, despite its light legal character.

EU Development Year puts fair consumption in the spotlight

Germany and the European Commission officially kicked-off the European Year for Development 2015 with the clear message that, even in the age of globalisation, industrialised countries can also stand to benefit from good living conditions in the rest of the world. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Commission unveils its position on global development after 2015

The European Commission published priorities for a sustainable development agenda on Thursday (5 February), ahead of negotiations for the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Building roads key to combating hunger, study says

Investments in basic transport and electricity in developing nations are among the best ways to curb hunger by 2030, since a quarter of all food is now wasted after harvest, according to a report issued by International Food Policy Research.

Danes nominate Millennium Development Goals for Nobel Peace Prize

Denmark's Minister for Development Aid, Mogens Jensen, together with eight predecessors, has nominated the so-called 2015 goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for the Nobel Peace Prize.

NGOs: Germany’s development promises are ‘deception’

Despite billions in pledged aid, Germany will miss the 0.7% target for development funding by 2015. NGOs spoke of "deception", calling on the country to finally take responsibility. EURACTIV Germany reports.

EU donates €320 million to UNICEF for child health, nutrition

The European Union announced yesterday (4 January) that it would give €320 million to UNICEF for projects tackling under-nutrition and infectious diseases, which are among the main causes of child mortality.

UN: Chronic hunger falls, but not enough to meet MDG

The number of famished people has fallen from 868 million to 842 million in the last two years, but the world is still set to miss its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of hungry poor, says a new report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

World leaders endorse ‘Outcomes’ document for MDG summit

A roadmap to an agreement on a new list of sustainable development targets to replace the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 was agreed at a summit in New York on 25 September.

EU admits double-counting climate finance and development aid

SPECIAL REPORT / EU officials have admitted for the first time that member state donations to the developing world can simultaneously count towards meeting climate change obligations and development commitments, such as providing 0.7% of gross income for overseas aid.

MDG designer fears UN goals will ‘degenerate into wish list’

SPECIAL REPORT / An architect of the UN’s Millennium development Goals (MDGs) says he fears that a lack of strong leadership at the UN could lead to its poverty eradication goals being replaced by an over-politicised and unachievable “wish list” after 2015.

EU seeks focus on environment in the post-MDG debate

Two EU Commissioners put strong emphasis on environmental issues at a Brussels round-table discussion on proposed measures to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  

Piebalgs: Future development goals should apply to every country in the world

As debate over the successor to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathers momentum, the EU's Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs argued in favour of objectives applicable not only to the developing countries, but to every country in the world.

Cameron, UN panel call for global corporate sustainability reporting

Big companies should report their impact on the environment in addition to their earnings under a UN plan to boost economic growth and ease poverty by 2030, according to recommendations by a panel of world leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Africa’s riches could ‘dwarf international assistance’: NGO

Mobilising domestic revenue through stronger taxation regimes and proper reallocation of funds are critical if some of the world’s poorest countries are to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, according to a report released today (29 May).

EU ministers set the tone for development action

EU ministers responsible for development aid will meet tomorrow (28 May) to approve a larger-than-expected budget for the European Development Fund and to set the tone for action to reduce poverty in the world, diplomats told EURACTIV.

World on track to meet 4 of 21 UN development targets

Governments are on track to meet four of the 21 targets set out in the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadline, the lead author of the World Bank’s 2013 Global Monitoring Report told EURACTIV.

Poorer nations face an unwanted European import: obesity

SPECIAL REPORT / Developing nations that are struggling with food supply uncertainty and malnutrition increasingly face a health challenge that is all too well known in Europe: obesity.