Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

The goals focus the efforts of the world community on achieving significant, measurable improvements in people's lives. They establish yardsticks for measuring results, not just for developing countries but for rich countries that help to fund development programs and for the multilateral institutions that help countries implement them. The first seven goals are mutually reinforcing and are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms. The last goal-global partnership for development-is about the means to achieve the first seven. Many of the poorest countries will need additional assistance and must look to the rich countries to provide it. Countries that are poor and heavily indebted will need further help in reducing their debt burdens. And all countries will benefit if trade barriers are lowered, allowing a freer exchange of goods and services.

For the poorest countries many of the goals seem far out of reach. Even in better-off countries there may be regions or groups that lag behind. So countries need to set their own goals and work to ensure that poor people are included in the benefits of development.

In 2003, the Government of Ukraine has prepared an analytical report on the country’s progress towards meeting the MDGs and, based on the specific country situation, developed a vision of Ukraine’s Millennium Development Goals that uses the framework of global MDGs to set own goals with particular targets and indicators to be achieved by 2015.