In support of MDG Goals, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, have launched the Millennium Project with a main purpose to recommend the best strategies for achieving the set goals. Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University directs the project. Professor Sachs also serves as a Special Advisor to the Secretary General on the Millennium Development Goals.

The Millennium Project will work to devise a recommended plan of implementation that will allow all developing countries to meet the MDGs and thereby substantially improve the human condition by the year 2015. Even though this might seem as a bold ambition, it is both necessary and achievable.

As an advisory body to the UN, the Millennium Project will report its findings directly to the UN Secretary General and the Administrator of the UNDP, and is structured as follows:

The UN ICT Task Force is currently establishing a “Committee on the use of ICT for the achievement of the MDGs.” This Committee will serve as part of Task Force 10 (Science, Technology, and Innovation) of the Millennium Project.

Timeline for the Millennium Project:

The Millennium Project is a three-year initiative that will be completed by June 30, 2005. The timeline of the Project follows:
Late 2002: Completion of background papers, which map out the planned research work of each Task Force.
Mid 2003: Publication of the Human Development Report 2003, which will focus on the Millennium Development Goals and draw upon research contributed by the Millennium Project Task Forces.
Mid-2004: Presentation of the Millennium Project Interim Report to the UN Secretary General and the UNDP Administrator.
June 30, 2005: Presentation of final recommendations by the Millennium Project to the UN Secretary General.

Millennium Project Task Forces:

The Millennium Project is directed by Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs. The bulk of its analytical work is carried out by ten Task Forces with support from a small central office in New York. Each Task Force is chaired by 2-5 Task Force Coordinators who guide the research effort. Please click on the links below to find out more about the people working on the Millennium Project.

Task Force 1 on Poverty and Economic Development
Task Force 2 on Hunger
Task Force 3 on Primary Education and Gender Equality
Task Force 4 on Maternal and Children's Health
Task Force 5 on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, Other Major Diseases, and Access to Essential Medicines
Task Force 6 on Environmental Sustainability
Task Force 7 on Water and Sanitation
Task Force 8 on Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers
Task Force 9 on Open, Rule-Based Trading Systems
Task Force 10 on Science, Technology and Innovation