As two African women and development leaders deeply involved in efforts to irreversibly end poverty and set the world on a more inclusive and sustainable path, we have reason to celebrate the great strides made in the 14 years since world leaders signed up to the Millennium Development Goals.
With less than 500 days to go for the 2015 deadline, the international community has the opportunity to accelerate actions and enhance momentum toward realizing the unfinished business of the MDGs.
MDG 1 — to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty — was met in 2010, five years ahead of schedule. There have been other significant developments — as many girls as boys now in primary school, child deaths dropping dramatically, access to clean water expanding and significant progress in the fight against deadly diseases.
About the authors
Amina J Mohammed
Amina Mohammed is United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special adviser on post-2015 development planning. Mohammed was previously senior special assistant to the Nigerian president on the Millennium Development Goals, coordinating $1 billion in debt relief funds to meet the MDGs in the country. From 2002-2005, she served as coordinator of the Task Force on Gender and Education for the U.N. Millennium Project.
Winnie Byanyima
Winnie Byanyima is the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. A grass-roots activist, human rights advocate, and world-recognized expert on women’s rights, she began her career as an engineer in her native Uganda. Appointed to the diplomatic service in 1989, she represented Uganda in France and at UNESCO. She was a member of parliament for 10 years in Uganda, and thereafter served at the African Union Commission. She was UNDP’s director of gender and development between 2006 and 2013.
