Millennium Goals Quotes

“Hand washing is the first basic step towards achieving any millennium goals for development. It saves lives.”

— Kajol

“The Millennium Development Goals were a pledge to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity, and free the world from extreme poverty. The MDGs, with eight goals and a set of measurable time-bound targets, established a blueprint for tackling the most pressing development challenges of our time.”

— Ban Ki-moon

“The Global Poverty Project's mission is to stand up for the world's poorest people. We fight for the full funding of Millennium Development Goals and advocate meaningful change to government and corporate policies that block progress and entrench injustice.”

— Hugh Evans

“You will not be able to meet the Millennium Development goals in health without e-health, in education without e-education, and government services will not be able to be provided without e-government services.”

— Hamadoun Toure

“Midori has been a steadfast supporter of the United Nations, as a Messenger of Peace and more recently by encouraging our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.”

— Ban Ki-moon

“At a time when we aim to accelerate our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and define a bold agenda for the period beyond 2015, the role of charity can and should grow. U.N. bodies such as the U.N. Volunteers Programme and UNICEF offer venues for people across the world to get involved.”

— Ban Ki-moon

“Food prices are often kept artificially high. The result is that the Millennium Development Goals set out by the United Nations at the start of the new millennium are not being reached. Fine words have not yet been turned into deeds.”

— Jonathan Sacks

“We are here because we share a fundamental belief: that poverty, illiteracy, disease and inequality do not belong in the twenty-first century. We share a common purpose: to eradicate these ills for the benefit of all. And we share a common tool to achieve this: the Millennium Development Goals.”

— Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

“The Millennium Development Goals are owned by the people.”

— Eveline Herfkens

“Gender equality and empowerment of women is key to the success of the Millennium Development Goals. Not only as a specific target, but for the goals in general. Women bear a heavier burden of the world's poverty than men, because of the discrimination they face in education, health care, employment and control of assets.”

— Johanna Sigurdardottir

“Join me in the final race to smash poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals”

— Carl Lewis

“If world leaders decide to [meet the Millennium Development Goals], I think it can be done by 2015 ... The question is, is there a political will to make this investment?”

— Thoraya Obaid

“World military spending has now risen to over $1.2 trillion. This incredible sum represents 2.5 per cent of GDP (global gross domestic product). Even if 1 per cent of it were redirected towards development, the world would be much closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.”

— Ban Ki-moon

“The Millennium Development Goals can be met by 2015, but only if all involved break with business as usual and dramatically accelerate and scale up action now.”

— Kofi Annan

“It is not in the United Nations that the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved. They have to be achieved in each of its Member States, by the joint efforts of their governments and people.”

— Kofi Annan

“Something is not yet right and ripe in our human society at the beginning of the 21st century and third millennium: missing is an unprecedented vision, boldness and courage to fashion a new, promising, better future. Our beliefs, society, ways of life, institutions and future goals must be reviewed and reappraised fundamentally from scratch.”

— Robert Muller