The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)In 2000, nearly all of the world’s countries came together at the UN’s Millennium Summit in New York. At this meeting, heads of state agreed to a set of development targets that every country must meet by 2015. These targets, called the Millennium Development Goals, are: • Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Each of the MDGs has a specific target and indictors for monitoring progress (which can be found at http://www.undp.org/mdg/goallist.shtml). For example, gender equality is measured by equalizing male-female literacy rates for young people and balancing the number of men and women in education, non-agricultural paid employment and the national parliament. All of the MDGs are relevant to children – either directly, as in the case of MDG 4 (to reduce child mortality), or indirectly, as with MDG 1 (since poverty and hunger blight children’s health and education). In Thailand, some provinces, such as Mae Hong Son and Nakon Phanom, have issued provincial-level reports on progress towards the MDGs, as well as provincial-level targets that reflect the extent of disparities between the national level and certain poorer and more isolated areas.
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