The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) commit the international community to an expanded vision of development, one that vigorously promotes human development as the key to sustaining social and economic progress in all countries, and recognizes the importance of creating a global partnership for development. The goals have been commonly accepted as a framework for measuring development progress.

Many of the targets of the MDGs were first set out by international conferences and summits held in the 1990s. In September 2000 the member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the Millennium Declaration - a common commitment to end global poverty and suffering. Following consultations among international agencies, including the World Bank, the IMF, the OECD, and the specialized agencies of the United Nations, the General Assembly recognized the Millennium Development Goals as part of the road map for implementing the Millennium Declaration.

Achieving the MDGs by 2015 will require more focus on development outcomes and less on inputs, to effectively measure national progress towards meeting the MDGs, and to engage even more closely with our partners in helping governments improve human development. The goals establish yardsticks for measuring results, not just for developing countries but for rich countries that help to fund development programs and for the multilateral institutions that help countries implement them. The first seven goals are mutually reinforcing and are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms. The last goal-global partnership for development- is about the means to achieve the first seven.

For more than three decades, the CGIAR has been committed to reducing poverty, increasing food security and protecting the natural resource base. Its 15 centers undertake research that generates the science and technologies to underpin advances towards each of the MDGs, especially those related to:

• rural poverty (Goal 1, Target 1)
• hunger (Goal 1, Target 2)
• health (Goals 4,5, and 6)
• and the environment (Goal 7).

During the CGIAR's Annual General Meeting 2004 in Mexico City, the Director of the MDG Technical Support Centre in Nairobi (Dr. Glenn Denning) highlighted the contributions that CGIAR could make towards achieving the MDGs, if only existing knowledge and technologies were disseminated and brought to scale. Denning cited several examples from Africa alone, including drought resistant maize, NERICA rice, disease resistant cassava, agroforestry fertilizer trees, community seed programmes and smallholder dairy improvement. The increasing attention being paid by the CGIAR to market-oriented agriculture, recognizing and supporting the role of small-holders in global trade opportunities, greater competitiveness and post-harvest improvement, directly supports efforts to cut poverty by 2015. In addition, the work on human nutrition being supported through the HarvestPlus Challenge Program and related initiatives will help identify and promote a number of nutritional interventions to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health.

The final report of the UN Millennium Project "Investing in Development" was released on January 17 2005, and highlighted the importance of science and technology in achieving the MDGs. The report recognizes the contribution of global public goods and the unique and continuing contribution of the CGIAR, and recommends a large increase in financial support to sustain and expand the research and impact of the System.