Nowadays within the United Nations system, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (see box) are mentioned everywhere you turn. Outside the system, they are discussed far less, and surveys indicate that they are not widely known and if known most people are cynical rather than appreciative. Some see them as simply hijacking space and pulling in good people, particularly eloquent speakers from the South, into yet another UN project. Somewhat more puzzling however, is that even senior UN staff call them publicly the minimum development goals and almost all commentators, including those responsible for making them happen, see them as likely to fail. Is there, one wonders, something wrong with the ‘messaging’? What are some oft he reasons for this anticipated ‘failure’ when we are just a few years into the process and have another decade to go? The first observation is that the goals themselves are not so lofty or impossible or new. And so, one has to conclude that despite all the technical talk about strategies, indicators and measurement and the estimates of funds required, all presented in an impressive array of tables and reports, essentially the MDG process is a political one -- both within the UN and outside. It seems that Kofi Annan is taking the occasion to call the house to order in order to sharpen the perceived success rates of the UN. As the organization is ever more under public scrutiny, he has to show it works even in relation to the failures of governments to keep promises. (excerpt)