With six years to go until the 2015 deadline to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), not enough progress has been made toward reaching them, says the UN’s 2009 Millennium Development Goals Report. The global economic and food crises, as well as the growing effects of climate change have not only exacerbated the slow progress, but also threaten to reverse previously-gained successes.

Last week, the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Millennium Campaign jointly hosted a discussion centered on the recently-released report. The discussion featured Anita Sharma, the North American Coordinator for the United Nations Millennium Campaign, Francesca Perucci from the United Nations Statistics Division, and Dan Carucci from the United Nations Foundation International Health Programs.

The panelists touched on both the successes and failures seen in the past few years. Much of the discussion focused on the consequences of the economic downturn on the MDGs. Before the crisis, explained Perucci, the main author of the report, the number of people living in poverty fell from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 1.4 billion in 2005. In 2009, however, approximately 55 million to 90 million additional people will be living in extreme poverty than was estimated prior to the financial crisis. Perucci also spoke of the “scant progress” on child nutrition that has been further eroded by high food prices and the state of the global economy. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, said Perruci, have the highest percentages of the population that is undernourished. Perhaps most severe, the MDG concentrating on combating maternal mortality has seen the least progress and is the least likely to be achieved.

The panelists asserted, there have also been successes. There has been dramatic improvement in the protection of children under five explained Curucci. Perucci added that we “are edging towards universal primary education.” Additionally, the dramatic surge in the use of bed-nets has also significantly helped to combat malaria. We have seen “progress in pockets,” explained Curucci, and although this progress still puts us far from the MDGs, it can be built upon to achieve greater success. The report advocates a strong and sustained call to action for international donors, governments, and the international community if the MDGs are to be reached by 2015.

Read the full report here.

-Pooja Gupta