The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) as the latest development discourse is slowly but surely shaping the policy frameworks of most governments and the advocacy platforms of many NGOs. Coming out of the Millenium Summit in September 2000, the MDGs could also be viewed as the first development discourse of the twenty-first century, an ambitious global project meant to take the world forward after centuries of poverty, conflict and environmental destruction. In looking at the transformative potential of the MDGs, this paper would like to present lifelong learning as a strategy that could help unleash the potential of development goals. In putting into operation the strategy of lifelong learning, one needs to take some principles into consideration. First, learning is not limited to schools but in fact takes place everywhere, in the family, the workplace, the community, and the library. A second principle is the need to recognise, accredit and validate learning outside that which takes place in the formal system. Thirdly, as people are faced with new realities and challenges, they need to learn not only to get a job and be employed, but also to learn values and new skills that enable them to be active citizens, especially in solidarity with excluded groups. An educational discourse that promotes learning for people so that they become more humane, more critical and enabled to live together peacefully deserves to be given a chance so that it can find its appropriate place in transforming lives and communities.