The MDG-1 target has been met, poverty rates have been halved between 1990 and 2010, but 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty.
Despite impressive strides forward at the start of the decade, progress in reducing the number of children out of school has slackened considerably.
Women are assuming more power in the world’s parliaments, boosted by quota systems.
Despite substantial progress, the world is still falling short of the MDG child mortality target.
Much more still needs to be done to reduce maternal mortality. Poverty and lack of education perpetuate high adolescent birth rates.
There are still too many new cases of HIV infection.
Millions of hectares of forest are lost every year, threatening this valuable asset. Global greenhouse gas emissions continue their upward trend.
Official development assistance is now at its highest level, reversing the decline of the previous two years.