This entry was written by Franziska Seel and Vidar Ekehaug as the introduction to the September edition of YouthLink Express - GYAN's monthly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

Last week saw the opening of the General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters here in New York, the time of the year when world leaders speak about their commitments to development, peace and security. At the center of many statements were the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs came out of the Millennium Summit in 2000, and represented a major shift in commitments from governments. For the first time in history, governments recognized that there are enough resources to end poverty, provide education and health care for all, achieve gender equality, and ensure a sustainable development. Also for the first time, there was an actual deadline – 2015 – for making significant progress.

Yet, today, we are far away from reaching the MDGs. What is going wrong? Are the MDGs after all just an unrealistic dream? While governments continue to repeat their commitments to the goals as they have done the last few years, there also seems to be a growing sense of helplessness among many of them. Civil society leaders, on their part, are increasingly concerned that the strategies to achieve the MDGs focus too much on economic growth as a catalyst for development, and ignore the human aspect. The MDGs represent a tangible and deliverable commitment from governments to create a better world, but they are also just a series of numbers, targets and indicators.

The MDGs can be a strong advocacy tool to hold governments accountable, but is the MDG policy framework enough to eradicate extreme poverty and growing inequality? Or do we need to change the whole debate? Please share your opinions with us!