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What are the Millennium Development Goals?
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The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015 correspond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. The goals are:
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For more information click here to visit the UNDP Global Website on MDGs
Iran and the MDGs
Iran is on track for meeting many of the goals. However, the national averages mask significant disparities between rich and poor, young and old, men and women and inhabitants of different regions. Improving the country's statistical capacity so it can better measure these disparities is high on the list of priorities identified in the UN Common Country Assessment (2003) and the 2005-2009 UN Development Assistance Framework.
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 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
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How's Iran doing?
Iran is on track in alleviating poverty, but needs assistance in reducing the poverty gap and income disparities at the national level.
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According to Iran’s 2004 MDG Report…
The percentage of the population with an income of under $ 1 per day fell to 0.62 percent in 2002 from 2.24 in 1995. However, estimations on the basis of an income of $2 a day, which is closer to the practical minimum for middle-income countries, reveals that more than 6 percent of the population remained in extreme poverty in 2002 In Iran, the greater challenge is to reduce the food poverty line which is the “national poverty line” – essentially those who unable to take in the minimum threshold of dietary energy set by the nutrition standards. The food poverty line decreased from 12.75 percent in 1995 to 8.99 percent in 2002 The poverty gap ratio for the food poverty line has also been reduced from 4.116 percent in 1995 to 2.238 in 2002.
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What are the challenges?
Reducing the poverty gap and disparities further continue to be notable challenges Adopt a pro-poor development strategy that internalizes the poverty alleviation programmes in macro socio-economic policies would an option.The way forward would be to carefully identify those social cohorts who live under the poverty line, so as to propose better-targeted subsidies and other social protection measures.
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 Achieve universal primary education
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How's Iran doing?
Iran is very likely to achieve full primary enrolment by 2015, given its high 97% net enrolment rate in primary education in 2002.
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According to Iran’s 2004 MDG Report…
The net enrolment ratio expressed as the ratio of children in the 6-10 age group enrolled in primary schools to the total population of official school-age children steadily rose to 97 percent in 2002 from 85 in 1990. The proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 increased from 87.1 percent in 1990 to 89.1 in 2002. In addition, the literacy rate for the 15-24 age group for both sexes has progressively improved. The rate for men has risen from 92.2 percent to 97.6, while that of women soared from 81.1 percent to 94.7 (1990-2002).
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What are the challenges?
Iran will need to address certain challenges in order to fully meet the target set for 2015. These include improving the weak economic conditions of the children’s families in certain rural areas, making educational programmes more flexible especially with a view to meeting the regional needs, overcoming geographical difficulties in order to access some rural and tribal regions, overcoming socio-cultural barriers to girls’ education in some areas of the country, using international experience to improve educational procedures and quality evaluation, identifying the illiterate and encouraging their attendance at training classes and strengthening private sector participation in the literacy campaign.
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 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
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How's Iran doing?
The target of bridging the gender gap in primary, secondary and tertiary education by 2015 seems quite attainable in Iran. However, Iran’s progress in engaging women in top management and decision-making positions, including representation of women in the national parliament, has been slow.
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According to Iran’s 2004 MDG Report…
93 percent of girls are enrolled in schools in primary, secondary and tertiary level in 2002, and the ratio of women to men in tertiary education shot up to 110.5 percent in the same year from 37.4 in 1990. Furthermore, the ratio of literate women to men in the 15-24 age group has increased by 9.1 percent, rising to 97 in 2002 from 87.9 in 1990. Also, the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector rose from 10.5 percent in 1990 to 12 in 2002. This rate continued to go up from 1990 to 1998 to reach 15.3 percent, although it then shrank back to stand at 12 percent in 2002. The main reason for this decline stems from an increase in job demands by women, as a result of the greater number of educated women. As a consequence, it poses a challenge for the development planners to create jobs for the educated women. Nevertheless, the percentage of seats held by women during four terms of the national Parliament has never exceeded 5 percent.
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What are the challenges?
A dire need for involving women more deeply in management and decision-making positions; the need to create more jobs for the increasingly growing population of educated women.
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Reduce Child Mortality
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How's Iran doing?
Iran is on track in reducing its under-five mortality and infant mortality rate by 2015.
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According to Iran’s 2004 MDG Report…
Iran has successfully reduced its infant mortality rate from 52 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 28 per 1,000 live births in 2000, but reaching the full target of 17 in 1000 live births by 2015 will require greater efforts and assistance. Meanwhile, the proportion of one-year-old children immunized against measles has increased to 96 in 2001 from 85 percent in 1990, showing that there is a reasonable probability that all one-year old children will be immunized against measles by 2015.
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What are the challenges?
The major challenges facing the country in reducing child mortality include incorporating the mortality reduction programmes into macro health policies, formulating provincial plans to diminish child and infant mortality rates, expanding health programmes to all the remotest rural parts of the country and strengthening implementation of standard protocols for prenatal and postnatal care are among other challenges. Overcoming these requires, among others, establishing a comprehensive death information registration system for child and infant deaths, introducing new educational methods for improved child nutrition and identifying the children’s burden of diseases.
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Improve Maternal Health
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How's Iran doing?
Iran is on track in reducing maternal mortality ratio and increasing the proportion of births assisted by skilled attendants, but in order to fully meet the target by 2015 needs assistance in a number of areas including monitoring of maternal care programmes.
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