	Setting the Context

In 2000, 189 U.N. member states, including the United States, adopted the U.N. Millennium Declaration. In the Declaration, countries made commitments to achieve a series of measurable development targets worldwide by 2015 known as the "Millennium Development Goals" (MDGs or Goals). From September 20 to 22, 2010, world leaders gathered at U.N. Headquarters for a High-level Plenary Meeting (the Meeting) to review progress toward achieving the MDGs over the past decade. There is general consensus in the international community that while there has been some progress in achieving the MDGs, the majority of Goals will not be met by 2015. The Barack Obama Administration has generally supported the MDGs. His speech was consistent with the U.S. Strategy for Meeting the MDGs , released by the Administration in July 2010, which highlights four imperatives for achieving the Goals: (1) leveraging innovation, (2) investing in sustainability, (3) tracking development outcomes (not just dollars), and (4) ensuring mutual accountability among aid donors and recipients. Nevertheless, members of the 112 th Congress may be interested in the Goals and the September High-level Meeting from several perspectives:
D evelopment assistance in a tight fiscal environment —Members of Congress authorize and appropriate U.S. official development assistance. In light of growing concerns over the federal budget deficit, members may wish to reassess foreign assistance priorities and strategies; New international commitments —Congress may consider commitments made on behalf of the United States in the Meeting's outcome document, Keeping the Promise: United to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals (General Assembly resolution 65/1); and O versight —Members may wish to conduct oversight on the overall effectiveness of the MDGs and the previous and future role of the United States in helping to fulfill the Goals. Selected questions that policymakers may consider follow:
In what areas , if any, have the MDGs been successful? Are the MDGs practical? What is the role of foreign aid in the MDGs? Who or what is held accountable for MDG progress? At the same time, governments recognized that progress toward the Goals is uneven among regions and between and within countries, and expressed "deep concern" that progress toward the Goals "falls short of what is needed." First, while some MDGs are on track to be achieved, others have made no progress at all or, in some cases, have deteriorated. The United States and the MDGs

The United States voted in favor of the U.N. Millennium Declaration in 2000, and some recent U.S. development policy statements allude to the MDGs as a U.S. development policy consideration, if not a guiding framework. Are the MDGs Practical? Conclusions

While evidence of MDG effectiveness in advancing global development is uneven a decade after the adoption of the Millennium Declaration, the international community, including the United States, continues to use the Goals as a paradigm for development assistance.
From September 20 to 22, 2010, heads of state and government convened at United Nations (U.N.) Headquarters for a High-level Plenary Meeting to review progress toward the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a group of measurable development targets agreed to by 189 U.N. member states—including the United States—as part of the 2000 Millennium Declaration. The Goals, which governments aim to achieve by 2015, include (1) eradicating extreme hunger and poverty; (2) achieving universal primary education; (3) promoting gender equality and women's empowerment; (4) reducing the under-five child mortality rate; (5) reducing the maternal mortality rate; (6) combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases; (7) ensuring environmental sustainability; and (8) developing a Global Partnership for Development.
Since 2000, governments have worked to achieve the MDGs with mixed results. Experts generally agree that while some MDGs are on track to be met, the majority of Goals are unlikely to be achieved by 2015. Many have also found that progress toward the Goals is unevenly distributed across regions and countries. India and China, for example, have made considerable progress in achieving the MDGs, while many countries in Africa have failed to meet almost all of the Goals.
President Barack Obama supports the MDGs and attended the September High-level meeting. In July 2010, the Administration published The United States' Strategy for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals, which identifies four "imperatives" for achieving the Goals—innovation, sustainability, measuring outcomes, and mutual accountability.
Members of the 112th Congress may be interested in the MDGs and the September High-level meeting from three primary perspectives. First, Congress may wish to consider the MDGs in the context of authorizing and funding broader U.S. development assistance efforts. Second, members may wish to be aware of the commitments made by the United States at the High-level meeting. Additionally, Congress may consider conducting oversight of international progress toward the MDGs, including U.S. efforts and the future of the Goals.
While evidence of MDG effectiveness in advancing global development is uneven a decade after the Millennium Declaration, the international community—and many policymakers in the United States—continue to use the Goals as a paradigm for development assistance. This raises a number of overarching questions for Congress about the role and future of the MDGs, including
In what areas, if any, have the MDGs been successful? Are the MDGs practical? What is the role of U.S. foreign aid in the MDGs? Who is accountable for MDG progress?
This report will be not be updated further.