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Sadly, some of the gains didn't last. Once the vaccination goal was reached, donor attention shifted elsewhere and coverage rates drifted down in many countries. But the spirit of Grant was behind an agreement in 2000 by the United Nations to focus on eight goals aimed at improving the lives of the world's poorest people. These Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were supported by 189 nations, and the UN set 2015 as the deadline for achieving them. This was the first time goals that called for specific percentage improvement were picked across a set of crucial areas--such as health, education, and basic income. Many people assumed the pact would be filed away and forgotten like so many UN and government pronouncements. However, since the goals were clear and concrete, they brought focus to the highest priorities. The UN agencies, donor countries, and developing countries looked at which programs would achieve the goals at the lowest cost. They saw that many programs were not delivering interventions in an effective way. They started demanding more rigorous evaluation to measure effectiveness. In some cases, the goals were used to persuade countries to pursue pro-poor policies. 'As 2015 approaches, the world is taking a hard look at how it is doing on the goals. Although we won't achieve them all, we've made amazing progress, and the goals have become a report card for how the world is performing against major problems affecting the poor. The MDG target of reducing extreme poverty by half has been reached ahead of the deadline, as has the goal of halving the proportion of people who lack access to safe drinking water. Living conditions for more than 200 million slum dwellers have also improved--double the target. Some goals, however, were set at such an ambitious level that they will be missed. For instance, while we have reduced the number of mothers who die during childbirth by almost 50 percent--which is incredible--we will, however, fall short of the goal of a 75 percent reduction. Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by all countries and leading development institutions in 2000, have helped the world make substantial progress to improve the lives of its poorest people. ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA, PRIMARY EDUCATION AND OTHER DISEASES PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL AND EMPOWER WOMEN SUSTAINABILITY A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP: FOR DEVELOPMENT REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY "Bee Ae & SOURCE: United Nations.