ABSTRACT
The Millennium Development Goals are the most broadly supported, comprehensive, and specific poverty reduction targets the world has ever established, so their importance is manifold. The Goals are ends in themselves, but for the households they are also capital inputs—the means to a productive life, to economic growth, and to further development. The Goals for hunger and disease are part of human capital. The Goals for water and sanitation and slum dwellers are part of infrastructure. “Achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, demands a new partnership between developed and developing countries. The Millennium Development Goals need to be reinforced with new benchmarks for assessing progress, for ensuring better and fairer trade, and for forging new global links.” The Goals create a solid framework for identifying investments that need to be made. Private businesses are important partners in achieving the Goals.
