The MDG Conundrum: Meeting the Targets Without Missing the Point

The MDGs are being misappropriated to gain support for a specific development strategy, agenda or argument, mostly being used as a call for more aid or as a Trojan horse for a particular policy framework. As relative benchmarks, they are extremely difficult to meet in countries with low human development. Their misinterpretation as one‐size‐fits‐all targets is leading to excessive Afro‐pessimism, begging the question whether Africa is missing the targets or whether the world is missing the point. The global MDG canon is dominated by a money‐metric and donor‐centric view of development, and is not ready to accept that growing disparities within countries are the main reason why the 2015 targets will be missed.