2000
Adopted at the UN Millennium Summit, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) outline eight development targets for 2015, including Goal 3 on Gender Equality and Goal 5 on Maternal Health both directly addressing women’s rights. While widely promoted, the MDGs are criticised for their technocratic, depoliticised framing of gender justice, their narrow scope and lack of structural analysis.
Peggy Antrobus, a founding member of DAWN, described the MDGs as the “Most Distracting Gimmicks,” argues they depoliticise development and fail to address the root causes of gender inequality such as patriarchy, neoliberalism, and militarism. By prioritising quantifiable targets over transformative change, the MDGs sideline women’s autonomy, reproductive rights, and broader struggles for social and economic justice.
