This paper examines measurement issues about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
indicators and proposes a set of strategies on some of the issues could be resolved. The
MDGs summarize the development goals agreed on at international conferences and world
summits during the 1990s. At the end of the decade, world leaders distilled the key goals and
targets in the Millennium Declaration (September 2000). Based on the declaration, the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has worked with other United Nations departments,
funds and programmes, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on a concise set of goals,
numerical targets, quantifiable indicators to assess progress. The new set is known as the
MDGs, which includes 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators. The UN General Assembly has
approved these as part of the Secretary-General’s Millennium Roadmap.