Millennium Promise

Millenium Promise’s work aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently

1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

1.3 (By 2030, ensure that all men and women, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and financial services including microfinance.)

3.2 By 2030 end preventable deaths of newborns and under-five children

3.9 By 2030 substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination.

5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.

5.6 Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

9.1 Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

Millennium Promise believes that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the end of poverty, can be achieved by2030, even in the most challeng-ing and remote parts of the world.

In 2005, five years after the Millennium Development Goals were established, Millennium Promise became the first international non-governmental organization solely committed to supporting the achievement of the MDGs — and now the Sustainable Development Goals — with a specific mandate to translate the world’s goals into tangible results.

From 2005-15, Millennium Promise provided the operational platform and resource mobilization for the Millennium Villages Project, which uses a holistic, science-based approach to benefit more than 500,000 people across sub-Saharan Africa.

Today they continue to build on this work to implement the SDGs through the Sustain-able Districts Program, the Lead Farmer Program, Connect To Learn, the One Million Community Health Workers Campaign, and other initiatives.

Jennifer Gross visited Africa for the first time to see the Millennium Villages Project in 2012 with Bono and Jeff Sachs, director of the Earth Institute. After returning home, she joined forces with Sachs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. She returned every year to the African Union in solidarity and worked to alleviate extreme poverty in remote regions.

Jenn traveled with Julian Lennon to Kenya to share her love of the Millennium Villages Project. The two decided to construct a girls’ dormitory at Uranga Secondary School and each respectively dedicated funds for girls’ scholarships. Blue Chip Foundation also contributes scholarship money to girls in Ghana.

In 2015, Jenn created a book and five short films with the VII Association to document the final year of the Millennium Villages Project. The body of work humanizes the statistics of the project which will be released later in 2017. Atan exhibit of the photographs at the United Nations, Dr. Amadou Niang, CEO of the Millennium Project, invited her to serve on its board.

Since that time, Blue Chip Foundation has donated 5,000 phones to the 1 million Community Health Worker (CHW) Campaign which is a joint initiative of Millennium Promise, Columbia University, and Blue Chip Foundation. Equipping each Ghanaian CHW with a smartphone will propel Ghana to the forefront of healthcare infrastructure in West and Sub-Saharan Africa and make it a player of increasing importance in the global transformation of health systems delivery.