The report draws upon the national experience of 34 countries — 20 of which are in Africa — that have completed their national MDG assessments and shows trends in progress, successes, failures and the impact of the recent global crises. It asserts that, while there is no one approach that could guarantee a country’s success across the board, with national commitment, innovative policies and pro-poor economic growth, the MDGs are within reach.

Document Highlights

• Benin created local initiatives that involved parents in the education of their children, and resulted in the higher demand for primary education as well as the mitigation of schooling costs.
• Based on evidence that investing in women’s empowerment can bring significant progress in achieving other goals, Egypt created a programme for companies that are committed to promoting gender equality in hiring, wages, and promotions.
• When health interventions addressed multiple factors, remarkable success has followed, examples of this can be seen in Kenya and Rwanda.
• The direct and indirect links between the provision of energy and accelerated progress across the Millennium Development Goals are increasingly evident in several countries, such as Nepal.