through the adoption of the united nations millennium declaration by the general assembly on september the united nations introduced a concrete set of development targets embodied in the millennium development goals mdgs poverty reduction was featured as the first and preeminent goal however the goals per se do not encompass any particular strategy for achieving those objectives for instance while productive employment creation is generally considered a main vehicle for poverty reduction targets for the creation of decent employment were not initially part of the mdg agenda employment indicators were introduced only after the goals provide no more than a set of targets which though they may provide a focus for a coherent strategy do not as such offer any guidance on what combination of policies would be most effective in fostering the simultaneous achievement of the mdgs