MDG Countdown 2011

The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell and USAID Administrator Raj Shah hosted an event during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) - MDG Countdown 2011: Celebrating successes and innovations.

The event's purpose was to highlight and celebrate the success of countries that are achieving progress in each Millennium Development Goal (MDG). The following programmes have achieved real progress by transforming people’s lives, bringing hope and a way out of poverty for millions.

	MDG 1: Brazil – a government programme of conditional cash transfers which has lifted more than 12 million people out of poverty.
	MDG 2: Zambia – an education policy which includes investment, free basic education, girls and boys parity enrolment policies, community schooling, and re-entry for girls that become pregnant.
	MDG 3: Gambia – government legislation and investment are getting girls into school, with particular success in rural areas.
	MDG 4: Peru – a significant fall in child mortality through improving women’s education levels, better management of infections and vaccines, and better access to water and sanitation.
	MDG 5: Nepal – a progressive programme that has seen maternity fall from being the number one cause of deaths amongst women of reproductive age.
	MDG 6: Ethiopia – an innovative programme to tackle the shortage of healthcare providers in rural areas and improve quality.
	MDG 7: Vietnam – a national programme on water and sanitation incorporating a subsidised credit lending program for poorer households.
	MDG 8: GAVI Alliance – a public-private partnership that has immunised millions of children in developing countries against killer diseases.