The Origins of the Millennium Development Goals

This article describes the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by identifying seven associated myths and offering explanations for each. From his perspective helping to lead the United Nations Millennium Project—then-UN secretary-general Kofi Annan’s independent advisory body mandated to recommend an action plan for achieving the MDGs—the author provides an insider’s perspective to the agreements, proposals, and real-time global political debates that shaped the process behind the Goals.