Do you know what the word MDG stands for? 

MDG stands for Millennium Development Goal. It may sound like some kind of fancy jargon however in my opinion MDGs are pretty amazing.  Established at the start of a brand new millennium in 2000 by world leaders at the United Nations, the 8 MDGs represent what we should strive for to make the world a better, more equitable place.  The MDGs build upon years of global teamwork and partnership in the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration and aim to achieve 8 major measurable targets by 2015. These 8 targets are shown in the infographic below.

The 8 UN MDGs (Source: http://www.un.org)

“The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.” (Source: United Nations)

To learn more specifics about the MDGs please click here.

“In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge turned into the eight Millennium Development Goals.” (UNDP)

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”. – Martin Luther King, Jr. 

View of one of many slums in Delhi.

As 2015 approaches, we have made significant progress towards reaching some of the MDGs yet others still have a long way to go. Per the UNDP Millennium Development Report of 2013 here are some of the highlights of where we are today:

• The proportion of people living in extreme poverty has been halved at the global level
• Over 2 billion people gained access to improved sources of drinking water
• Remarkable gains have been made in the fight against malaria and tuberculosis
• The hunger target is within reach
• Environmental sustainability is under severe threat
• Most maternal deaths are preventable, and progress in this area is falling short
• Access to antiretroviral therapy and knowledge about HIV prevention must expand
• Too many children are still denied primary education
• There is less aid money overall, with the poorest countries most adversely affected.

Source: United Nations Development Programme

A child who stole my heart in an Indian slum.

So, what do MDGs mean to me? Why does it matter?

Because as a world traveler and mother, I cannot turn a blind eye to how millions of people around the world are living. It is a moral responsibility to help others have a chance at the basic fundamental human rights to life.  We have so much. We waste so much. While others around the world are struggling to survive. It just isn’t acceptable.

Children at a day care center in Honduras where I volunteered last January. All these children live in extreme poverty and most to a single working mother.

As part of my work and involvement with World Moms Blog, I recently wrote a post to launch off our #Moms4MDGs initiative on ONE.org, a non-partisan global movement of people who want an end to extreme poverty and hunger. The post is called #Moms4MDGS: Why Ending Extreme Poverty and Hunger Matters. To read the article in full click here.

Here is an excerpt from the post:

When I was in the slums of Delhi, we met with mothers groups and learned about their daily struggles to survive. In a country which holds the second largest population in the world, an astounding number of people live in poverty: 240 million in the countryside and 72 million in cities, a number almost equivalent to the entire population of the United States. Furthermore, an alarming 1.6 million children, or 29 percent of the world total, die before the age of 5, largely due to preventable causes in which poverty is a huge factor.

All this made me think. I couldn’t help but imagine, “What would I do as a mother living in extreme poverty and hunger?”

As a mother, I’d be faced with decisions that are impossible to make. How would I decide which child should eat and which one would go to bed hungry? How would I decide which child should go to school and which ones should stay home and work? Even worse, how would I possibly decide which child to leave alongside the road to die when I was too sick to carry them both to the nearest hospital located two days walk away?

These are decisions that no mother should ever have to make. Yet sadly, mothers around the world living in extreme poverty are forced to make these unimaginable decisions every single day. After seeing the tragic, devastating impact of poverty firsthand through the eyes of a mother, I realized there was no way I would ever be the same. 

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For the next eight months, we will be tackling all eight MDGs in a global, volunteer-lead team of bloggers to help spread the message why MDGs matter. I am honored to be a part of this group of women who are using our voices to advocate and help change the world.

For more information on #Moms4MDGs campaign and a schedule of events, click here.