The Millennium Development Goals are to:
1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger. To accomplish this, countries are urged to:
• Reduce the number of people living on less than US$1 per day, and
• Reduce the number of people living in hunger.
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education. To attain this, countries are expected to:
• Ensure that all children, both boys and girls, are able to complete at least primary school education.
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. This is to be done by:
• Eliminating the disparity between boys and girls in all levels of schooling, from primary to tertiary,
• Increasing the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector, and
• Increasing the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments.
4. Reduce Child Mortality. The goal is to reduce child mortality by 2/3rds, and one means to do this is to increase the proportion of children immunized against measles
5. Improve Maternal Health. The goals is to reduce maternal mortality by 3/4ths, and one means to do this is increase the number of births attended by skilled health personnel.
6. Combat HIV/AIDs, Malaria and other Diseases. The spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in poor countries, and the prevalence of malaria and other debilitating diseases take an inordinate toll on the economic and well as physical well-being of the poor. The targets for this goal are:
• Halt and then reverse the spread of HIV/AIDs. This is to be done in part with the increased use of condoms.
• Halt and then reverse the spread of malaria and other major diseases, among them tuberculosis.
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability. The main aim is to assure that country development policies and programs incorporate the principles of sustainable development and that the loss of environmental resources is reversed. This is measured by:
• Increasing the proportion of land covered by forest,
• Reducing emission of greenhouse gasses,
• Increasing the percentage of the population with sustainable access to safe drinking water.
• Increasing the percentage of the population with access to improved sanitation, and
• Increasing the proportion of households in slum areas with access to secure tenure.
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development. This includes keeping international debt under control, finding viable work for youth within the country, and expanding access to telephones and the internet.