The MDG Gap Task Force Report systematically tracks existing international commitments and their fulfilment at the international level in the areas of official development assistance, trade, debt relief, and access to essential medicines and technology as defined by the targets and indicators of MDG 8. The MDG Gap Task Force Report 2014 will build on the 2013 Report, by drawing lessons learned from monitoring MDG 8 and analysing conceptual gaps created by how MDG was originally defined. This should provide insight to discussions on the post-2015 agenda. The Task Force consists of more than 30 UN entities, including participation from the World Bank and the IMF, as well as the OECD and WTO. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat and UNDP and are the lead agencies in coordinating the work of the Task Force.

The present report was prepared by the MDG Gap Task Force which was created to improve the monitoring of the MDG 8 by leveraging inter-agency coordination. The objective of the report is to identify remaining obstacles to accelerate progress in the achieving the targets contained in MDG 8. It highlights the degree of compliance to the commitments made by developed and developing countries with a view to strengthening the global partnership for development. The main message of the report is that while there has been progress on several counts, important gaps remain in delivering on the global commitments in the area of aid, trade, debt relief, and access to new technologies and affordable essential medicines.