UN Dispatch Podcast: Talking #MDGMomentum With Jeffrey Sachs

Today marks the official 1,000 day countdown to the due date of the Millennium Development Goals. Several MDG enthusiasts and supporters around the world are marking today’s final sprint to the finish with a day of social media action to mobilize for one final push to acheieve the MGDs, which are due to expire in 2015.

I caught up with the economist Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University who was one of the intellectual forefathers of the MDGs and a key UN adviser on development issues. We spoke about why some goals have been achieved and some not; why China is a key force for development in many of the places most farthest from reaching the goals; and what set of international development targets should take the place of the MDGs once it expires?

We get a little wonky, but I think you will appreciate the conversation. It’s a good one.