The world has undergone monumental development and challenging times over the past several centuries. The twentieth century witnessed two major world wars that will go down in history as defining moments for most developed and developing countries. However, the end of World War II in 1945 saw the end of most struggles through defeat and surrender. It was during this time that the nations of the world embarked on developing new relations to spur economic development (Nwonwu 2). The new-found aspirations were hampered by what came to be referred to as the cold war. This continued for the better part of the second half of the century.
At the dawn of the New Millennium, 189 United Nations member countries resolved to redefine their common strategies for combating the challenges facing them (United Nations 1). During an international conference held at the UN headquarters in New York in September 2000, these countries made the famous UN Millennium Declaration (United Nations 3). The declaration contained 8 Millennium Development Goals, which were set to be achieved by 2015.
These goals were: fight to half extreme poverty and hunger, reduce illiteracy levels by ensuring universal primary education, reduce gender discrimination and empower women, reduce mortality among children, improve the health of mothers, eradicate HIV/AIDS, malaria, and related diseases, promoting environmental conservation, and establish a global partnership for development. Currently, 191 UN nations have ratified the goals (United Nations 14).
Notable progress has been realized in some countries of the world with reduced levels of poverty, increased enrolment, and gender equality, reducing child and maternal mortality, and reducing the spread of HIV. Efforts have been made to promote environmental sustainability.
In 2010, countries converged to reaffirm their commitment to the attainment of the MDGs by the set deadline (United Nations 73). Earlier meetings in 2005 and 2008 also saw similar commitments from stakeholders like governments, civil societies, and businesses. However, recurrent incidences of severe hunger, conflicts, and environmental degradation seem to reverse all the efforts towards achieving the MDGs, especially in developing countries. Countries of the world must support each in fighting the common as well as unique challenges if the set global is to be attained within the set timeframe.
Works cited
Nwonwu, Francis. Millennium development goals: achievements and prospects of meeting the targets in Africa. African Books Collective, 2008: 1-9.
United Nations. The Millennium Developments Goals Report 2010. United Nations Publications UNIDIR, 2010: 1-76.