To what extent have the Millennium Development Goals been a success - Essay Example

e MDGs included the eradication of abject poverty, promotion of the achievement of universal primary education, realization of gender equality and eradication of child mortality (German Watch, 2010:12). Improving maternal health, promoting global partnership for development, eradicating the most notorious disease such as Malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, and the promotion of environmental sustainability were also among the set MDGs (German Watch, 2010:12). Thus, this being the year when the MDGs were meant to have been achieved, it becomes necessary to take stock of their implementation, to establish whether the MDGs have been a success.

However, it can be argued that; although much progress has been made towards realizing the MDGs, many targets are still unmet. The fact that the MDGs have been achieved to a larger extent cannot be denied. The current success stories coming from Africa, Asia and some parts of Latin America are, goes to show that the set target to realize the MDGs by 2015 has made a greater impact in these regions (Manning, 2009:33). While not all of the success stories and positive transformation in these regions can be attributed to the MDGs, there is no doubt that the MDGs have played an important role in enhancing eradication of poverty and promoting development in Africa, Asia and Latin America (Melamed & Scott, 2011:2).

Poverty reduction, as one of the eight goals set for achievement by 2015, is an area where the MDGs have had notable success. The poverty reduction target has had success both in the partnership between the developed and the LCDs in projects that would eradicate poverty, as well s in the prioritization of the poverty eradication programs by the LCDs (Easterly, 2009:27). In this respect, the MDGs have been termed as the most successful story in the eradication of poverty in the global history of policy interventions.

The proportion of the people living in extreme poverty has been halved within the fifteen year period, where