The curious tale of the missing MDGs and Africa's progress

The Millennium Declaration was both a surprising and encouraging outcome for global progress. Not long before the Millennium Declaration was signed, just the previous year, world leaders failed to launch Òthe Millennium Round' of trade negotiations during the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial meeting in Seattle. High, middle and low-income countries could not find it in themselves to agree a global trade agenda that would benefit citizens in rich and poorer countries.

In contrast, the MDGs were aspirational and unanimously adopted. They presented a vision of the world that was very difficult to disagree with; a world with less hunger; with education for all; without unnecessary deaths of women and children from diseases and misfortunes that could easily be prevented. Despite this rosy picture, however, the MDGs faced criticism from the start.