The Millennium Development Goals and the social commitment of Nursing research.

In 2000, the United Nations (UN) brought together representatives from 191 countries, heads of state and government at the UN Millennium Summit. The discussions outlined eight “Millennium Development Goals” (MDG) to be achieved by 2015. Driven by growing concerns for the planet’s sustainability and the serious problems aff ecting humankind, the international community set goals targeted at priority areas to improve health and education conditions as well as reduce extreme poverty worldwide. The eight Millennium Development Goals are to: 1 – eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; 2 – achieve universal primary education; 3 – promote gender equality and empower women; 4 – reduce child mortality; 5 – improve maternal health; 6 – combat AIDS, malaria and other diseases; 7 – ensure environmental sustainability; and 8 – develop a global partnership for development. The global commitment to the MDGs requires international cooperation and, locally, cooperation between the public and private sectors. These goals should be pursued by means of public policies and discussions and initiatives jointly carried out by people in diff erent occupations, especially healthcare. Hence, the eight goals mutually reinforce and support one another as they represent basic human needs and seek to guarantee fundamental rights. As 2015 begins, it should be noted that Brazil has come a long way in terms of achieving the MDGs. The Brazilian performance is owed to social participation and a host of public social and healthcare policies put in place in the past few years that have had positive impacts on them. There are good indicators. However, many challenges still lay ahead . The country realizes it is important to achieve these goals to foster the Brazilian population’s health and welfare . Pursuing the MDGs along with researchers’ dedication to topics involving worldwide development, whether economic, social or environmental, allow the civil society, the healthcare industry, and the government to work towards improving the quality of life of everyone across the country. There is a need for studies that actually create useful knowledge enabling social players and the government to attain important results for society by providing an updated, integrated view of the populations’ life and health context . This year marks the deadline set by the UN for the MDGs to be achieved, and the international community has been assessing the progress and defi ning a global development agenda for the post-2015 period. The world has changed signifi cantly since the MDGs were ser in 2000, and the new agenda must refl ect such changes in order to have a positive impact. It should be noted that, promisingly, there is broader consensus about several basic aspects such as the core place of people and human rights in development processes, as well as the urgent need to tackle the growing inequality in a wide variety of fi elds . These issues are also pertinent to the work routinely carried out in Nursing, which has been taking on commitments and responsibilities towards the sustainable development of populations worldwide. The International Council of Nurses is a federation of more than 130 national nurses’ associations and has been encouraging its members to have nurses step up their eff orts in pursuit of healthcare-related MDGs. It is indisputable that the participation of nurses, the largest workforce in the fi eld of health, has been essential for these goals to be achieved around the world. The Millennium Development Goals and the social commitment of Nursing research