In 2000, the United Nations set eight Millennium Development Goals (SDGs), which are supposed to be met by 2015. These goals are to halve between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of the population whose income is less than $ 1 and who suffers from hunger; Primary School for all; Elimination of gender disparities; The two-thirds reduction between 1990 and 2015 in the mortality rate for children under five; The reduction of three quarters between 1990 and 2015 in the maternal mortality rate; Stopping the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases; The development of a multidimensional environment allowing access to drinking water, respect for the environment and the disappearance of slums and the establishment of an international partnership for development.
To achieve these objectives, countries must develop programs defining policies to fight poverty. The development of these finalized programs in documents called "Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers" (PRSP) is the necessary prerequisite for the granting of aid. These documents should indeed make it possible to coordinate the action of the various donors and national authorities within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). PRSPs thus constitute the reference documents for concessional lending and debt relief operations under the Heavily Indebted Countries Initiative (HIPC).