As 2015 comes to a close and the world takes a look at the progress that has been made in global poverty relief, it is clear that significant progress has been achieved. The list of what has been accomplished is extensive, but here are some of the top Millennium Development Goals successes:

1. Between 1990 and 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty went from 1.9 billion to 836 million people. That’s 1,090 million people who no longer live in poverty.
2. The number of primary school age children who were out of school dropped globally from 100 million to 57 million. That’s 43 million more children able to go to school.
3. In 1990, for every 100 boys that attended school in Asia, there were only 74 girls attending. That number has now risen from 74 to 103 girls.
4. The number of infant deaths under age 5 has declined from 12.7 million to in 1990, to 6 million today.
5. In 1990, only 2.3 billion people had access to clean drinking water. That number has now climbed to 4.2 billion.
6. 99 percent of all countries have more women in parliament than they did in 1990.
7. The child mortality rate has been reduced from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births, and it continues to fall.
8. The number of people living on only $1.25 a day has gone from 47 percent in 1990 to 14 percent in 2015.

While the Millennium Development Goals have had many successes, some goals have not been reached. World leaders have come together once again to decide on the new long-term sustainability goals, building on the past successes.

According to the UN, The Sustainable Development Goals, “will break fresh ground with ambition on inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice.”

– Drusilla Gibbs

Sources: The Guardian, UN
Photo: Flickr