MDG Scan

The MDG Scan measures a company’s policies, effort and contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations. The MDG framework was first commissioned in 2005 by NCDO’s Business in Development Programme and was developed by Dutch Sustainability Research (DSR). It was tested on a multinational company (ABN Amro Bank) and a development organisation (Oxfam Novib).

In 2006 the framework was revised to focus entirely on the private sector. The contributions of Philips, ABN Amro Bank, TNT, Akzo Nobel, Heineken and BHP Billiton to the MDGs were measured. All six Multinationals, in varying degrees, contributed positively to the MDGs.

In 2007 the development of the new MDG measurement framework, a generic instrument that measures the ‘readiness’ and ‘impact’ of Multinational corporations to all eight MDGs, has started off.

The development of the Framework is an ongoing process. Although reports have been published that qualitatively discuss the possible contributions of MNCs to the MDGs, none present an innovative framework and quantitative instrument that both measure and compare the contributions.

Halfway 2008 the new scan will be available online.

NCDO's Business in Development programme initiated, finances and coordinates the MDG Scan project.