Millennium Declaration by world leaders: "As leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world's people, especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to whom the future belongs." UN, New York, 6 - 8 September, 2000.

As Tony Blair's and world leaders' millennium promises reach their halfway point, a briefing on the progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) today reveals that 80 million children have died since the MDGs were launched in 2000. 17 and a half million children have died since the G8 in Gleneagles nearly two years ago. The briefing calls for urgent action from world leaders in order for the goals to be achieved by 2015.

Launched on the day of the first 'Education for All' conference, when donors must commit the necessary aid if they are to meet their goal of universal primary education by 2015, the briefing Off Track and Running Out of Time, examines how close the world is to achieving the MDGs as the halfway point approaches in July 2007. It looks in particular at the MDGs that affect children: MDG 1 (Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), MDG2 (Achieve universal primary education), MDG 4 (Reduce mortality rates by two thirds among children under five) and MDG 8 (Develop a global partnership for development).

All MDGs are revealed to be off course and the majority of the goals are unlikely to be met by 2015. Where there is progress, it is not universal: sub-Saharan Africa lags far behind the rest of the world, in particular Asia. 90% of all child deaths occur in only 42 countries, 39 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Matt Phillips, Head of Campaigns at Save the Children UK, said: "It's an outrage that all the optimism of the new Millennium has turned into so little real progress for children. There are rays of hope like Zambia making healthcare free and the massive public mandate for action to make poverty history. But to turn this round we need a lot more urgency and concrete action from world leaders - especially Europe and the G8 - to tackle extreme poverty."

Save the Children UK is calling for donors at the first 'Education for All' conference, attended by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, today to come up with the goods. Donors must:

• Double the amount of aid so far committed for education if they want to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of primary education for all by 2015.
• Increase funding to basic education in order to meet the annual target of $9 billion, $5.2 billion of which must go to education in conflict-affected fragile states.

Save the Children UK is also calling on G8 countries this year to:

• Back developing countries to help build healthcare services and end the injustice of children and their families facing unpayable bills to go to the doctor.
• Dramatically reform aid to make it work for poor countries. Aid should be predictable and untied, and all aid must be targeted at the world's poorest children.
  

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Notes to Editors

• For a copy of the briefing, please contact Sophie Elmhirst, 020 7012 6403, s.elmhirst@savethechildren.org.uk  
• The following Millennium Declaration was made by world leaders at the UN in New York, 6 - 8 September, 2000: "As leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world's people, especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to whom the future belongs."
• Building on the success of Make Poverty History two years ago, Save the Children UK is a member of the World Can't Wait coalition of charities and organisations, which is uniting on June 2 for a huge rally on the banks of the Thames near Parliament, where thousands of people from all over the UK will send a message to the G8.
• For further information on the 'Your Voice Against Poverty' campaign see http://www.yourvoiceagainstpoverty.org.uk/ and for more on the Global Campaign Against Poverty to eradicate world poverty see http://www.whiteband.org/ 
• For further information on the 'Education for All' conference, visit www.savethechildren.org.uk/rewritethefuture