If governments north and south deliver on their aid commitments and promises to prioritise the needs of the billion people living on less than US$1 a day, the proportion of the world's population living in poverty can be halved within a decade.

Clearly, this would be an enormous achievement – improving the well-being and security of many millions of the world's poorest people.

But what about the other half of the world's population? And what if governments don't deliver on their promises?

There is clear evidence that many countries, communities and individuals targeted by the MDGs will be left untouched by the goals.

Firstly, progress towards the MDGs to date has been far from uniform:

• there are huge inconsistencies in terms of progress across and within recipient countries
• some of the MDGs are making more rapid progress than others
• not all donor countries are on track to meet their pledged commitments.

Secondly, the targets are not ambitious enough. Even if they are achieved in full, nearly a billion people will still be living in poverty in 2015.

The MDGs cannot be reached without reaching the poorest: international obligations to eradicate poverty cannot be selectively applied.

Tackling chronic poverty will help achieve the MDGs. Without a focus on the poorest even the target of reducing poverty by half may not e achieved in many countries. Chronically poor households are significantly more likely to include malnourished children so addressing chronic poverty could accelarate progress.

External links

See MDG report 2006 (external link to a PDF)

Visit www.un.org/millenniumgoals/