Special edition on the MDGs

1. What does MDG stand for?

A: Major Distracting Gimmick
B: Masking Development Gaps
C: Millennium Development Goal

2. According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, where is most progress on the MDGs concentrated?

A: Asia
B: Europe
C: Africa

3. How many MDGs are there?

A: 7
B: 8
C: 6

4. What are two of the arguments in favour of the utility of the MDGs?

A: They unite global commitment towards eradicating poverty, and can push forward advocacy initiatives
B: They unite global commitment and help make the achievement of global social justice seem easy
C: They fuel advocacy initiatives and create opportunities for development consultants, who pass on the wealth to their local communities

5. What are two of the common criticisms of the MDGs?

A: They are 'implausible' and there are too many of them
B: They neglect a rights-based framework addressing structural change, and have 'methodological flaws'
C: They have methodological flaws and are hard to spell

6. When were the MDGs launched?

A: 2000
B: 1999
C: 2001

7. Why are the MDGs sometimes described as a 'neoliberal' exercise?

A: Because they do not discriminate on the basis of gender, disability, sexual orientation etc
B: Because they further a 'capitalist' way of addressing poverty
C: Because they are target-driven ambitions

8. Who said: "“Despite the threat of global terror hanging over all of us, there is only one path: to pursue the Millennium Development Goals with fresh resolve –confronting violence, bigotry and hatred with the same determination that we attack the causes from which they spring – conflict, ignorance, poverty and disease?

A: Former UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy
B: Outgoing US president George W.Bush
C: Current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon

9. Goal 4 of the MDGs is to reduce child mortality. For who?

A: All children
B: Children under five
C: Children under two

10. How many of the MDGs, including the targets under each goal, expressly mention children?

A: 0
B: 2
C: 5