Measuring progress towards the international development goals

Abstract

The International Development Goals (IDGs), with the exception of the poverty reduction goal, emerged from a series of UN conferences in the early to mid-1990s and were consolidated in the 1996 DAC publication, "Shaping the 21st Century: The Contribution of Development Co-operation". They reflect broad agreement in the international community and were arrived at with the active participation of developing countries. The results oriented approach to development reflects an increasing concern with outputs and outcomes. However, to increase the effectiveness of development assistance, systems have to be established to measure accurately how effective development co-operation is, and has been, in tackling world poverty.