Millennium Development Goals
The development challenges facing the Commonwealth are ever increasing. Of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 25 million are from the Commonwealth countries and about half of the world's children without access to primary education live in the Commonwealth. In development terms the Commonwealth claims 14 of the world's 50 Least Developed Countries and 25 of the 46 Small Island Developing States.
Prospects for sustainable development around the world are more promising today than they were a decade ago. The Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) issued by the United Nations in 2000, has committed the world community to a set of clear and measurable targets for sustainable development - on what needs to be done and how. The MDGs also highlight the pivotal role that the international development community must play if wide-ranging poverty reduction and development processes are to be achieved in developing countries.
The Goals range from halving global poverty and hunger to protecting the environment, improving health and sanitation and tackling illiteracy and discrimination against women. Alongside the Goals, a series of 18 targets were also drawn up to enable the international community to make a number of tangible improvements within a fixed period of time, and also make it easier for them to measure their progress to date. The aim is for most of these targets to be achieved by 2015. Unfortunately, while notable progress is being made towards meeting some of the targets in some countries, in many cases progress is patchy, too slow or non-existent.
The Commonwealth Foundation recognises that the MDGs have a crucial part to play in contributing towards poverty alleviation and the achievement of sustainable development, within the framework of the values, purposes and priorities of the Commonwealth. They form a logical development framework for taking forward the Foundation's sustainable development objectives and they seek to address the most crucial development needs of countries 
across the Commonwealth. The Foundation will target and concentrate programming and grant-making in five sectors directly related to achieving the MDGs. These include:
Health - with particular focus on HIV and AIDS as both a global and Commonwealth emergency
Education - targeting the achievement of gender parity in access to education for girls
Climate change - to support the formulation, adoption and implementation of adaptive strategies across the Commonwealth
Disaster risk management and mitigation- with particular focus on Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Debt relief - focusing on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative
Although not explicitly defined, areas such as human rights, democracy, good governance and culture and diversity are recognised as part of the fundamental values underpinning the achievement of the Foundation's sustainable development objectives. Furthermore, the Foundation will support and promote the integration of gender equality dimensions in all development policies, programmes, and projects.
The Commonwealth Foundation will continue to maximise its contribution to a world where development gains are sustainable, and will work with and support civil society partners that demonstrate the ability to contribute to the achievement of sustainable and equitable development through innovative approaches at the grassroots level.
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 | Millennium Campaign |
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| World Bank Information on Millennium Development Goals |
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| UN Millennium Development Goals |
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