Millennium Development Goals
The MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s. Responding to the world's main development challenges and to the calls of civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases.
Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can be achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Poor countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their people through health care and education. Rich countries have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade.
How is UNDP Helping?
Guided by the UN Core Strategy, UNDP is working with a wide range of partners to help create coalitions for change to support the goals at global, regional and national levels, to benchmark progress towards them, and to help countries to build the institutional capacity, policies and programmes needed to achieve the MDGs.
MDGs in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
The Millennium Development Goals, which the Government has pledged to reach by signing the Millennium Declaration in 2000, offer an opportunity to find a path towards long-term development. UNDP and other UN agencies present in the country have been wholeheartedly supporting the Government in pursuing the national MDG agenda. It is for this purpose that the first national MDG baseline report was prepared jointly, and used as an opportunity for building consensus on the development priorities of the country.
This first report aimed at assessing the current situation and the progress made towards achieving the eight MDGs by 2015. It also made an attempt to provide linkages between the MDGs and EU integration which are both priorities for the country. The Report demonstrated that while a series of achievements were made in different fields, problems still persist and require urgent addressing.
Five working groups and three task forces composed of MDG Government focal points, experts, NGOs and UN agencies were preparing the first draft of this report, assuring broad consultation in the preparation process. Also, a national MDG Committee was formed, composed of high level representatives from Government and Parliament, the State Statistical Office, NGOs, the media, the private sector. The Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator guided the process and approved the contents of the MDG Report.
In addition, a civil society MDG platform was established. Several forums were organized including discussion panels during the NGOs fair, broad public health and environmental forums with the representatives of the central government, local government, private sector, academia and civil society. It is during these events that agreement was reached on the national targets and indicators. Upon completion of the consultative process, the MDG Progress Report was reviewed and approved by the Government. It was published at the end of September 2009 and distributed to all relevant stakeholders.
Status of Progress in FYR Macedonia (2009)
WHAT IS THE MDG MONITOR?
The MDG Monitor shows how countries are progressing in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With the 2015 target date fast approaching, it is more important than ever to understand where the goals are on track, and where additional efforts and support are needed, both globally and at the country level.
The MDG Monitor is designed as a tool for policymakers, development practitioners, journalists, students and others to:
TRACK progress through interactive maps and country-specific profiles
LEARN about countries' challenges and achievements and get the latest news
SUPPORT organizations working on the MDGs around the world
Taking into account the importance of adapting nationalized MDGs to the priorities of people at local level, UNDP also embarked on a project focusing on localizing MDGs in three pilot municipalities.
The main goal of this project lies in localizing the national MDG targets and indicators and establishing linkages between micro- and macro-level policy making processes.
Its main objective is to strengthen the existing partnerships among the three selected municipalities and promote a highly participatory process for elaboration of MDG anchored local development strategies.
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