Thirteen years after the world set the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), countries have made big strides to meet the eight anti-poverty targets by their 2015 deadline, says a United Nations report released last Monday, which stresses that the unmet goals are still within reach, but nations need to step up their efforts to achieve them. 

Agreed upon by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, the MDGs set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS and malaria reduction, and a global partnership for development. 

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013 shows how the combined actions of governments, civil society and the private sector have made substantial progress in meeting many of the targets, while also pointing out which areas are falling behind and require immediate attention. 

The targets that have already been met include halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and providing more than two billion people with access to improved sources of drinking water. 

Countries have also made great strides on health targets, and are within close reach of achieving them by 2015. These include reducing the mortality rates from malaria and tuberculosis and stopping HIV infections. Other areas where progress has been significant include the reduction of people suffering from undernourishment and the decline of the proportion of slum dwellers in cities. 

The report also states that the global economic crisis has left millions unemployed, and has reduced the amount of development aid for those countries that are most in need. In spite of these developments, the report urges sustained momentum, noting that countries will have to build on MDG achievements when they decide on a post-2015 agenda.