In year 2000, leaders from every country agreed together on a vision of a future with less poverty, hunger, disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants as well as better educated children. Among their targets was also obtaining equal opportunities for women and a healthier environment; a world in which developed and developing countries worked in partnership for the betterment of all.

For this reason, this report was established including the shape of eight millennium development goals. These goals provide countries around the world with a framework for development and time-bound targets by which progress can be measured.

This report shows where the world stands in 2006 in achieving the goals previously mentioned. Though the challenges these goals represent are staggering, yet, there are clear signs of hope. Targets mentioned in the report include the following,
• eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
• achieving universal primary education
• lowering the HIV infection rates
• promoting gender equality and empowering women
• reducing child mortality rates
• improving maternal health
• increasing aid and enhanced debt relief all over the world
• helping the developed as well as the developing countries to muster the political will to find a solution to the destruction of the ozone layer

Data collected to produce this report are compiled by specialized agencies within their area of expertise. They are drawn from national statistics provided by governments to the international statistical system, the United Nations Statistics Division and the statistical offices of the various international organizations and adjusted for comparability.

Though there have been many steps in this direction, many remains to be done until all countries are able to produce a continuous flow of social and economic data needed to inform their development policies and track progress.