Millennium Development Goals

1
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are a UN
initiative.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international
development goals that were officially established following the
Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the
adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 189
United Nations member states and at least 23 international
organizations have agreed to achieve these goals by the year 2015. The
goals are:
1. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,
2. Achieving universal primary education,
3. Promoting gender equality and empowering women,
4. Reducing child mortality rates,
5. Improving maternal health,
6. Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases,
7. Ensuring environmental sustainability, and
8. Developing a global partnership for development.
[1]
Each of the goals has specific stated targets and dates for achieving those targets. To accelerate progress, the G8
Finance Ministers agreed in June 2005 to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cancel an additional $40 to $55billion in debt owed by
members of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) to allow impoverished countries to re!channel the resources
saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty.
Debate has surrounded adoption of the MDGs, focusing on lack of analysis and justification behind the chosen
objectives, the difficulty or lack of measurements for some of the goals, and uneven progress towards reaching the
goals, among other criticisms. Although developed countries' aid for achieving the MDGs has been rising over recent
years, more than half the aid is towards debt relief owed by poor countries, with much of the remaining aid money
going towards natural disaster relief and military aid which do not further development.
Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven. Some countries have achieved many of the goals, while others
are not on track to realize any. A UN conference in September 2010 reviewed progress to date and concluded with
the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by their 2015 target date. There were also
new commitments on women's and children's health, and new initiatives in the worldwide battle against poverty,
hunger, and disease.
Government organizations assist in achieving those goals, among them are the United Nations Millennium
Campaign, the Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc., the Global Poverty Project, the Micah Challenge, The Youth in
Action EU Programme, "Cartoons in Action" video project, and the 8 Visions of Hope global art project.
Background The aim of the MDGs is to encourage development by improving social and economic conditions in the
world's poorest countries. They derive from earlier international development targets and were officially established
following the Millennium Summit in 2000, where all world leaders in attendance adopted the United Nations
Millennium Declaration The Millennium Summit was PEEd with the report of the Secretary-General entitled We the
Peoples. The Role of the United Nations in the Twenty-First Century Additional input was prepared by the
Millennium Forum, which brought together representatives of over 1,000 non-governmental and civil society
organizations from more than 100 countries. The Forum met in May 2000 to conclude a two-year consultation
process covering issues such as poverty eradication, environmental protection, human rights and protection of the
vulnerable. The approval of the MDGs was possibly the main outcome of the Millennium Summit. In the area of
Millennium Development Goals
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peace and security, the adoption of the Brahimi Report was seen as properly equipping the organization to carry out
the mandates given by the Security Council.
[citation needed]
The MDGs originated from the Millennium Declaration
produced by the United Nations. The Declaration asserts that every individual has the right to dignity, freedom,
equality, a basic standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and violence, and encourages tolerance and
solidarity.The MDGs were made to operationalize these ideas by setting targets and indicators for poverty reduction
in order to achieve the rights set forth in the Declaration on a set fifteen-year timeline.An Introduction to the Human
Development and Capability Approach: Freedom and Agency' The Millennium Summit Declaration was, however,
only part of the origins of the MDGs. It came about from not just the UN but also the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. The setting came
about through a series of UN!led conferences in the 1990s focusing on issues such as children, nutrition, human
rights, women and others. The OECD criticized major donors for reducing their levels of Official Development
Assistance (ODA). With the onset of the UN's 50th anniversary, then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan saw the
need to address the range of development issues. This led to his report titled, We the Peoples. The Role of the United
Nations in the 21st Century which led to the Millennium Declaration. By this time, the OECD had already formed its
International Development Goals (IDGs) and it was combined with the UN's efforts in the World Bank's 2001
meeting to form the MDGs."The Political Economy of the MDGs: Retrospect and Prospect for the World's Biggest
Promise", The MDG focus on three major areas: of valorising human capital, improving infrastructure, and
increasing social, economic and political rights, with the majority of the focus going towards increasing basic
standards of living."The Millennium Development Goals Report:The objectives chosen within the human capital
focus include improving nutrition, healthcare (including reducing levels of child mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
and malaria, and increasing reproductive health), and education. For the infrastructure focus, the objectives include
improving infrastructure through increasing access to safe drinking water, energy and modern
information/communication technology; amplifying farm outputs through sustainable practices; improving
transportation infrastructure; and preserving the environment. Lastly, for the social, economic and political rights
focus, the objectives include empowering women, reducing violence, increasing political voice, ensuring equal
access to public services, and increasing security of property rights. The goals chosen were intended to increase an
individual"s human capabilities and "advance the means to a productive life".The MDGs emphasize that individual
policies needed to achieve these goals should be tailored to individual country"s needs; therefore most policy
suggestions are general.
The MDGs also emphasize the role of developed countries in aiding developing countries, as outlined in Goal Eight.
Goal Eight sets objectives and targets for developed countries to achieve a "global partnership for development" by
supporting fair trade, debt relief for developing nations, increasing aid and access to affordable essential medicines,
and encouraging technology transfer. Thus developing nations are not seen as left to achieve the MDGs on their
own, but as a partner in the developing-developed compact to reduce world poverty.
Millennium Development Goals
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Goals
A poster at the United Nations Headquarters in
New York City, New York, USA, showing the
Millennium Development Goals.
The MDGs were developed out of the eight chapters of the Millennium
Declaration, signed in September 2000. There are eight goals with 21
targets,
[2]
and a series of measurable health indicators and economic
indicators for each target.
[3][4]
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 1A: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of
people living on less than $1.25 a day
[5]
Proportion of population below $1.25 per day (PPP values)
Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and
Young People
GDP Growth per Employed Person
Employment Rate
Proportion of employed population below $1.25 per day (PPP
values)
Proportion of family-based workers in employed population
Target 1C: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age
Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
[6]
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys
Enrollment in primary education
Completion of primary education
[7]
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all
levels by 2015
Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
[8]
For girls in some regions, education remains elusive
[]
Poverty is a major barrier to education, especially among older girls
[]
In every developing region except the CIS, men outnumber women in paid employment
[]
Women are largely relegated to more vulnerable forms of employment
[]
Women are over-represented in informal employment, with its lack of benefits and security
[]
Top-level jobs still go to men ! to an overwhelming degree
[]
Women are slowly rising to political power, but mainly when boosted by quotas and other special measures
[]
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Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates
Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Under-five mortality rate
Infant (under 1) mortality rate
Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles
[9]
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Maternal mortality ratio
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Adolescent birth rate
Antenatal care coverage
Unmet need for family planning
[10]
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
HIV prevalence among population aged 15#24 years
Condom use at last high-risk sex
Proportion of population aged 15#24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS
Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to antiretroviral drugs
Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets
Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-malarial drugs
Incidence, prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short
Course)
[11]
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse
loss of environmental resources
Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
Proportion of land area covered by forest
CO
2
emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)
Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits
Proportion of total water resources used
Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
Proportion of species threatened with extinction
Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation (for more information see the entry on water supply)
Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
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Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation
Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million
slum-dwellers
Proportion of urban population living in slums
[12]
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial
system
Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction # both nationally and
internationally
Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Includes. tariff and quota free access for LDC exports, enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPC and
cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous ODA (Official Development Assistance) for
countries committed to poverty reduction
Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing States
Through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the
outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly
Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and
international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
Some of the indicators listed below are monitored separately for the least developed countries (LDCs), Africa,
landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.
Official development assistance (ODA).
Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC donors$ GNI
Proportion of total sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services (basic education,
primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)
Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied
ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their GNIs
ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs
Market access.
Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing countries and
from LDCs, admitted free of duty
Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from
developing countries
Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP
Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity
Debt sustainability.
Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision points and number that have reached
their HIPC completion points (cumulative)
Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$
Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services
Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in
developing countries
Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis
Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies,
especially information and communications
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Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population
Personal computers in use per 100 population
Internet users per 100 Population
[13]
Debate surrounding the MDGs
Drawbacks of the MDGs include the lack of analytical power and justification behind the chosen objectives.
[]
The
MDGs leave out important ideals, such as the lack of strong objectives and indicators for equality, which is
considered by many scholars to be a major flaw of the MDGs due to the disparities of progress towards poverty
reduction between groups within nations.
[14][]
The MDGs also lack a focus on local participation and empowerment
(excluding women"s empowerment) [Deneulin & Shahani 2009]. The MDGs also lack an emphasis on sustainability,
making their future after 2015 questionable.
[]
Thus, while the MDGs are a tool for tracking progress toward basic
poverty reduction and provide a very basic policy road map to achieving these goals, they do not capture all elements
needed to achieve the ideals set out in the Millennium Declaration.
[14]
Researchers also point out some important gaps in the MDGs. For example, agriculture was not specifically
mentioned in the MDGs even though a major portion of world's poor are rural farmers. Again, MDG 2 focuses on
primary education and emphasizes on enrollment and completion. In some countries, it has led to increase in primary
education enrollment at the expense of learning achievement level. In some cases, it has also negatively affected
secondary and post secondary education, which have important implication on economic growth.
[15]
Another criticism of the MDGs is the difficulty or lack of measurements for some of the goals. Amir Attaran, an
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health, and Global Development Policy at
University of Ottawa, argues that goals related to maternal mortality, malaria, and tuberculosis are in practice
impossible to measure and that current UN estimates do not have scientific validity or are missing.
[16]
Household
surveys are often used by the UN organisations to estimate data for the health MDGs.
[16]
These surveys have been
argued to be poor measurements of the data they are trying to collect, and many different organisations have
redundant surveys, which waste limited resources.
[16]
Furthermore, countries with the highest levels of maternal
mortality, malaria, and tuberculosis often have the least amount of reliable data collection.
[16]
Attaran argues that
without accurate measures of past and current data for the health related MDGs, it is impossible to determine if
progress has been made toward the goals, leaving the MDGs as little more than a rhetorical call to arms.
[16]
Proponents for the MDGs argue that while some goals are difficult to measure, that there is still validity in setting
goals as they provide a political and operational framework to achieving the goals.
[17]
They also assert that
non-health related MDGs are often well measured, and it is wrong to assume that all MDGs are doomed to fail due
to lack of data.
[17]
It is further argued that for difficult to measure goals, best practices have be identified and their
implication is measurable as well as their positive effects on progress. With an increase in the quantity and quality of
healthcare systems in developing countries, more data will be collected, as well as more progress made.
[17]
Lastly
the MDGs bring attention to measurements of well being beyond income, and this attention alone helps bring
funding to achieving these goals.
[]
The MDGs are also argued to help the human development by providing a measurement of human development that
is not based solely on income, prioritizing interventions, establishing obtainable objectives with operationalized
measurements of progress (though the data needed to measure progress is difficult to obtain), and increasing the
developed world"s involvement in worldwide poverty reduction.
[][18]
The measurement of human development in the
MDGs goes beyond income, and even just basic health and education, to include gender and reproductive rights,
environmental sustainability, and spread of technology.
[]
Prioritizing interventions helps developing countries with
limited resources make decisions about where to allocate their resources through which public policies.
[]
The MDGs
also strengthen the commitment of developed countries to helping developing countries, and encourage the flow of
aid and information sharing.
[]
The joint responsibility of developing and developed nations for achieving the MDGs
increases the likelihood of their success, which is reinforced by their 189-country support (the MDGs are the most
Millennium Development Goals
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broadly supported poverty reduction targets ever set by the world).
[19]
Progress
Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven. Some countries, such as Brazil, have achieved many of the
goals,
[20]
while others, such as Benin, are not on track to realize any.
[21]
The major countries that have been
achieving their goals include China (whose poverty population has reduced from 452 million to 278 million) and
India due to clear internal and external factors of population and economic development.
[]
The World Bank
estimated that MDG1A (halving the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day) was achieved in 2008 mainly
due to the results from these two countries and East Asia.
[22]
However, areas needing the most reduction, such as the sub-Saharan Africa regions have yet to make any drastic
changes in improving their quality of life. During the same time frame as China, sub-Saharan Africa reduced its
poverty by a mere one percent and is at a major risk of not meeting the MDGs by 2015.
[]
Even though the poverty
rates in sub-Saharan Africa decreased in a small percent, there are some successes regarding millennium
development goals in sub-Saharan Africa. In the case of MDG1, sub-Saharan region started to eradicate poverty by
strengthening the industry of rice production. Originally, rice production was one of the main problems since its
production rate could not catch up the rapid population growth by mid!1990s. This caused great amount of rice
imports and great costs for the governments reaching nearly $1billion annually. In addition, farmers in Africa
suffered from finding the suitable species of rice that can well-adapt in their conditions with high-yield
characteristic. Then, New Rice for Africa (NERCA) which is high-yielding and well adapting to the African
conditions was developed and contributed to the food security in sub-Saharan regions including Congo Brazzaville,
Cte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda. Now about
18 varieties of the hybrid species are available to rice farmers and, for the first time, many farmers are able to
produce enough rice to feed their families and to gain profit at the market.
[23]
Sub-Saharan region also show
improvement in the case of MDG2. School fees that included Parent-Teacher Association and community
contributions, textbook fees, compulsory uniforms and other charges were highly expensive in sub-Saharan Africa,
taking up nearly a quarter of a poor family"s income. This was one of the barriers for enrollment and, thus, countries
like Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and
Uganda have eliminated school fees. This resulted in the increase in student enrollment in several regions. For
instance, in Ghana, public school enrollment in the most deprived districts soared from 4.2million to 5.4million
between 2004 and 2005. In Kenya, enrollment of primary school children surged significantly with 1.2million extra
increase of children in school in 2003 and by 2004, the number had climbed to 7.2million.
[24]
Fundamental issues
will determine whether or not the MDGs are achieved, namely gender, the divide between the humanitarian and
development agendas and economic growth, according to researchers at the Overseas Development Institute
(ODI).
[25][26][27]
Achieving the MDGs does not depend on economic growth alone and expensive solutions. In the case of MDG4,
some developing countries like Bangladesh have shown that it is possible to reduce child mortality with only modest
growth with inexpensive but effective interventions, such as measles immunisation.
[28]
It has also been found that
total government expenditure would not, in most cases, be enough to meet the agreed spending targets in a number
of sectors highlighted by the MDGs.
[29]
Research on health systems and MDGs suggests that a "one size fits all"
model will not sufficiently respond to the individual healthcare profiles of developing countries; however, the study
does find a set of similar constraints in scaling up international health, including the lack of absorptive capacity,
weak health systems, human resource limitations, and high costs. The study argues that the emphasis on quantitative
coverage obscures the measures required for scaling up health care. These measures include political, organizational,
and functional dimensions of scaling up, and the need to nurture local organizations.
[30]
According to some experts, MDG7#to halve the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe
drinking water and basic sanitation#is still far from being reached. Since national governments often cannot provide
Millennium Development Goals
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the necessary infrastructure, civil society in some countries started to organise and work on sanitation themselves,
says the magazine D+C Development and Cooperation.
[31]
For instance, in Ghana there is an umbrella organisation
called CONIWAS (Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation), which today has more than 70 member
organisations focusing on providing access to water and sanitation.
Goal8 of the MDGs is unique in the sense that it focuses on donor government commitments and achievements,
rather than successes in the developing world. The Commitment to Development Index, published annually by the
Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., is considered the best numerical indicator for MDG8.
[32]
It is
a more comprehensive measure of donor progress than official development assistance, as it takes into account
policies on a number of indicators that affect developing countries such as trade, migration, and investment.
To accelerate progress towards the MDGs, the G!8 Finance Ministers met in London in June 2005 (in preparation for
the G!8 Gleneagles Summit in July) and reached an agreement to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the IMF,
and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cancel an additional $40 to $55billion in debt owed by members of
the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). This would allow impoverished countries to re-channel the resources
saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving health and education.
[33]
Backed by G-8 funding, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the AfDB each endorsed the
Gleaneagles plan and implemented the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) to effectuate the debt
cancellations. The MDRI supplements HIPC by providing each country that reaches the HIPC completion point
100% forgiveness of its multilateral debt. Countries that previously reached the decision point became eligible for
full debt forgiveness once their lending agency confirmed that the countries had continued to maintain the reforms
implemented during HIPC status. Other countries that subsequently reach the completion point automatically receive
full forgiveness of their multilateral debt under MDRI.
[33]
While the World Bank and AfDB limit MDRI to countries that complete the HIPC program, the IMF's MDRI
eligibility criteria are slightly less restrictive so as to comply with the IMF's unique "uniform treatment" requirement.
Instead of limiting eligibility to HIPC countries, any country with annual per capita income of $380 or less qualifies
for MDRI debt cancellation. The IMF adopted the $380 threshold because it closely approximates the countries
eligible for HIPC.
[34]
The International Health Partnership (IHP+) also aims to accelerate progress towards the MDGs by putting
international principles for effective aid and development cooperation into practice in the health sector. In
developing countries, money for health comes from both domestic and external sources, and governments must work
in coordination with a range of international development partners. As these partners increase in number, variations
in funding streams and bureaucratic demands also increase. As a result, development efforts can become fragmented
and resources can be wasted. By encouraging support for a single national health strategy or plan, a single
monitoring and evaluation framework, and a strong emphasis on mutual accountability, IHP+ builds confidence
between government, civil society, development partners, and other stakeholders whose activities affect health.
[35]
As 2015 approaches, however, increasing global uncertainties such as the economic crisis and climate change have
led to an opportunity to rethink the MDG approach to development policy. According to the In Focus policy brief
from the Institute of Development Studies, the "After 2015" debate is about questioning the value of an MDG-type,
target-based approach to international development, about progress so far on poverty reduction, about looking to an
uncertain future and exploring what kind of system is needed after the MDG deadline has passed.
[36][37]
Further developments in rethinking strategies and approaches to achieving the MDGs include research by the
Overseas Development Institute into the role of equity.
[38]
Researchers at the ODI argue progress can be accelerated
due to recent breakthroughs in the role equity plays in creating a virtuous circle where rising equity ensures the poor
participate in their country's development and creates reductions in poverty and financial stability.
[38]
Yet equity
should not be understood purely as economic, but also as political. Examples abound, including Brazil's cash
transfers, Uganda's eliminations of user fees and the subsequent huge increase in visits from the very poorest or else
Mauritius's dual-track approach to liberalisation (inclusive growth and inclusive development) aiding it on its road
Millennium Development Goals
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into the World Trade Organization.
[38]
Researchers at the ODI thus propose equity be measured in league tables in
order to provide a clearer insight into how MDGs can be achieved more quickly; the ODI is working with partners to
put forward league tables at the 2010 MDG review meeting.
[38]
The effects of increasing drug use have been noted by the International Journal of Drug Policy as a deterrent to the
goal of the MDGs.
[39]
Other development scholars, such as Naila Kabeer, Caren Grown, and Noeleen Heyzer, argue that an increased focus
on women"s empowerment and gender mainstreaming of MDG-related policies will accelerate the progress of the
MDGs. Kabeer argues that increasing women"s empowerment and access to paid work will help reduce child
mortality.
[40]
To illustrate, in South Asian countries, which have high levels of gender discrimination, babies often
suffer from low birth weight due to limited access to healthcare and malnutrition. Since low-birth weight babies have
limited chances of survival, improving women"s health by increasing their bargaining power in the family through
paid work, will reduce child mortality. Another way empowering women will help accelerate the MDGs is the
inverse relationship between mother"s schooling and child mortality, as well as the positive correlation between
increasing a mother"s agency over unearned income and health outcomes of her children, especially girls. Increasing
a mother"s education and workforce participation increases these effects. Lastly empowering women by creating
economic opportunities for women decreases women"s participation in the sex market which decreases the spread of
AIDS, an MDG in itself (MDG6A).
[40]
Grown asserts that the resources, technology and knowledge exist to decrease poverty through improving gender
equality, it is just the political will that is missing.
[41]
She argues that if donor countries and developing countries
together focused on seven "priority areas": increasing girl"s completion of secondary school, guaranteeing sexual and
reproductive health rights, improving infrastructure to ease women"s and girl"s time burdens, guaranteeing women"s
property rights, reducing gender inequalities in employment, increasing seats held by women in government, and
combating violence against women, great progress could be made towards the MDGs.
[41]
Kabeer and Heyzer believe that the current MDGs targets do not place enough emphasis on tracking gender
inequalities in poverty reduction and employment as there are only gender goals relating to health, education, and
political representation.
[40][42]
To encourage women"s empowerment and progress towards the MDGs, increased
emphasis should be placed on gender mainstreaming development policies and collecting data based on gender.
Graphs from the Millennium Development Goals Report 2010
Proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day
(1990, 2005)
Enrollment in primary education
(1999, 2008)
Millennium Development Goals
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Under-five mortality rate (1990,
2008)
Numbers of people living with, newly infected with and killed by
HIV (1990-2008)
Proportion of population using an "improved water
source" (1990, 2008)
External debt service payments as a proportion of export
revenues (2000, 2008)
Internet users per hundred people
(2003, 2008)
Review Summit 2010
A major conference was held at UN headquarters in New York on 20$22 September 2010 to review progress to date,
with five years left to the 2015 deadline.
The conference concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by their
2015 target date. There were also major new commitments on women's and children's health, and major new
initiatives in the worldwide battle against poverty, hunger and disease.
Challenges
Although developed countries' aid for the achievement of the MDGs have been rising over recent years, it has shown
that more than half is towards debt relief owed by poor countries. As well, remaining aid money goes towards
disaster relief and military aid which does not further the country into development. According to the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2006), the 50 least developed countries only receive about one third of
all aid that flows from developed countries, raising the issue of aid not moving from rich to poor depending on their
development needs but rather from rich to their closest allies.
[39]
Millennium Development Goals
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Many development experts question the MDGs model of transferring billions of dollars directly from the wealthy
nation governments to the often bureaucratic or corrupt governments in developing countries. This form of aid has
led to extensive cynicism by the general public in the wealthy nations and hurts support for expanding aid.
Controversy over funding of 0.7% of GNI
Over the past 35 years, the members of the UN have repeatedly made a "commit[ment] 0.7% of rich-countries' gross
national income (GNI) to Official Development Assistance".
[43]
The commitment was first made in 1970 by the UN
General Assembly.
The text of the commitment was:
Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development assistance to the
developing countries and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum net amount of 0.7 percent of its gross
national product at market prices by the middle of the decade.
[]
However, there has been disagreement from the United States as well as other nations over the Monterrey Consensus
that urged "developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 per cent of
gross national product (GNP) as ODA to developing countries".
[44][45]
Support for the 0.7% target
The UN "believe[s] that donors should commit to reaching the long-standing target of 0.7 percent of GNI by 2015".
[]
In 2005 the European Union reaffirmed its commitment to the 0.7% aid targets, noting that "four out of the five
countries, which exceed the UN target for ODA of 0.7%, of GNI are member states of the European Union".
[46]
Many organizations are working to bring U.S. political attention to the Millennium Development Goals. In 2007,
The Borgen Project worked with then Senator Barack Obama on the Global Poverty Act, a bill requiring the White
House to develop a strategy for achieving the goals. As of 2009, the bill has not passed, but Obama has since been
elected president.
[47][48]
Challenges to the 0.7% target
Many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, including key members such as
the United States, are not progressing towards their promise of giving 0.7% of their GNP towards poverty reduction
by the target year of 2015. Some nations' contributions have been criticized as falling far short of 0.7%.
[49]
John Bolton argues that the United States never agreed in Monterrey to spending 0.7% of GDP on development
assistance. Indeed, Washington has consistently opposed setting specific foreign-aid targets since the UN General
Assembly first endorsed the 0.7% goal in 1970.
[50]
The Australian government has committed to providing 0.5% of GNI in International Development Assistance by
2015-2016.
[51]
Improvements
To meet the challenge of overcoming global health inequalities and make foreign aid more effective in attaining the
Millennium Development Goals, more health services are suggested to be provided to the developing countries.
Since the living condition of the developing countries are not organized well and getting worse, many health workers
move from the poor countries to other places which offer a better living environment.
[52]
The health workers that are
willing to stay are often poorly trained. As a result, the risk of infection is often increased in developing countries.
Cuba, a small, low-income country, played a significant role in providing medical services to developing nations; it
has trained more than 14,500 medical students from 30 different countries at its Latin American School of Medicine
in Havana since 1999. Moreover, Cuba had 36000 health physicians worked in 72 countries, from Europe to
Southeast Asia, 31 African countries, and 29 countries in the America. Countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and
Millennium Development Goals
12
Nicaragua depend on Cuban assistance to improve their living conditions.
[53]
It is noted that the training of health
care workers should be counted as a budget consideration of developed countries.
Furthermore, in order to achieve the MDGs, it is important to make services more accessible to people living in
lower-income countries. Wealthy countries should cooperate with low- and middle-income countries by operating
programs both in the short and long run. Besides that, some researchers suggested that developed countries should
treat global health inequalities and humanitarian issue as a part of national strategy.
Post 2015 development agenda
At the September 2010 MDG Summit, UN Member States initiated steps towards advancing the Post-2015
Development Agenda and are now leading a process of open, inclusive consultations on the post-2015 agenda. Civil
society organizations from all over the world have also begun to engage in the post-2015 process, while academia
and other research institutions, including think tanks, are particularly active.
[54]
The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction started a process of consultations as the disaster
risk reduction community heads toward the end date of the current blueprint for global disaster risk reduction, the
Hyogo Framework of Action 2005-2015. Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.
[55]
On 31 July 2012, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed 26 civil society, private sector, and government leaders
from all regions to a high-level panel to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015.
[56]
Related organizations
The United Nations Millennium Campaign is a UNDP campaign unit to increase support to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals and seek a coalition of partners for action. The Millennium Campaign targets intergovernmental,
government, civil society organizations and media at both global and regional levels.
The Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc. (or simply the "Millennium Promise") is a U.S.-based non-profit
organization dedicated to achieving the Millennium Development Goals founded in 2005 by Special Advisor on the
MDGs to the UN Secretary General Jeffrey Sachs and Wall Street leader and philanthropist, Ray Chambers.
[57]
Millennium Promise coordinates the Millennium Villages Project in partnership with Columbia's Earth Institute and
the UNDP; it aims to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving the MDGs through an integrated, community-led
approach to holistic development. The Millennium Villages Project currently operates in 14 sites across 10 countries
in sub-Saharan Africa.
[58]
The Global Poverty Project
[59]
is an international education and advocacy organisation using its multimedia
presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons to educate people about the Millennium Development Goals and our capacity to end
extreme poverty within a generation. They travel to workplaces, schools, universities, community groups and
churches around Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States to equip people with the
knowledge and resources they need to encourage the achievement of the MDGs.
The Micah Challenge is an international campaign that encourages Christians to support the Millennium
Development Goals. Their aim is to "encourage our leaders to halve global poverty by 2015".
[60]
The Youth in Action EU Programme "Cartoons in Action" project
[61]
created stop motion animation videos about
MDGs,
[]
a video channel "8 gol x 8 Millennium Development Goals"
[62]
and 21 Videos about 21 MDGs Targets
using Arcade C64 videogames
[][63]
8 Visions of Hope is a global art project that explores and shows how art, culture, artists & musicians as positive
change agents can help in the realization of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals.
The Development Education Unit of Future Worlds Center envisions, designs and implements development
education awareness campaigns, trainings, conferences and resources since 2005. Leads a number of Europe-wide
projects such as the Accessing Development Education and TeachMDGs.
Millennium Development Goals
13
Related projects
Accessing Development Education
Accessing Development Education
[64]
is a web portal developed by Future Worlds Center within an EU funded
project (ONG-ED/2007/136-419). It provides relevant information about development and global education and
helps educators share resources and materials that are most suitable for their work.
TeachMDGs
The Teach MDGs European project led by Future Worlds Center aims to increase awareness and public support for
the Millennium Development Goals by actively engaging teacher training institutes, teachers and pupils in
developing local oriented teaching resources promoting the MDGs with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa and
integrate these into the educational systems.
UN Goals
UN Goals is a global project dedicated to spreading knowledge of these millennium goals through many different
means through various internet and offline awareness campaigns.
References
[1] Background page (http:/ / www. un. org/ millenniumgoals/ bkgd. shtml),
1. 1. Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water United Nations Millennium Development Goals
website, retrieved 16 June 2009.
[14] [14] Can the MDGs provide a pathway to social justice?: The challenge of intersecting inequalities. 2010. Naila Kabeer for Institute of
Development Studies.
[16] [16] Amir Attaran. 2005. An Immeasurable Crisis? A Criticism of the Millennium Development Goals and Why They Cannot Be Measured.
2005. PLoS Medicine | October 2005 | Volume 2 | Issue 10 | e318
[17] McArthur, J.W., Sachs, J.D., Schmidt-Traub,G. Response to Amir Attaran. 2005. PLoS Med 2(11): e379.
[18] Andy Haines and Andrew Cassels. 2004. "Can The Millennium Development Goals Be Attained?" BMJ. British Medical Journal, Vol. 329,
No. 7462 (Aug. 14, 2004), pp. 394-397
[19] [19] United Nations. 2006. "The Millennium Development Goals Report: 2006." United Nations Development Programme,
www.undp.org/publications/MDGReport2006.pdf (accessed January 2, 2008).
[22] Chen, Shaohua and Martin Ravallion, (29 February 2012) " An Update to the World Bank"s Estimates of Consumption Poverty in the
Developing World (http:/ / siteresources. worldbank. org/ INTPOVCALNET/ Resources/ Global_Poverty_Update_2012_02-29-12. pdf)"
Development Research Group, World Bank, Retrieved 14 August 2012.
[28] (http:/ / www. savethechildren.org. uk/ blogs/ 2010/ 08/ addressing-the-inequalities-in-child-survival/ )
[29] The Feasibility of Financing Sectoral Development Targets (http:/ / www. odi. org.uk/ resources/ docs/ 6325. pdf/ )
[32] Human Development Report 2003 (http:/ / www.unmillenniumproject. org/ documents/ hdr03_complete. pdf)
[33] E.Carrasco, C.McClellan, & J.Ro (2007) "Foreign Debt: Forgiveness antetretetred Repudiation" (http:/ / www. uiowa.edu/ ifdebook/
ebook2/ contents/ part4-I.shtml) University of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development E-Book
[34] E. Carrasco, C.McClellan, & J. Ro (2007), "Foreign Debt: Forgiveness antetretetred Repudiation" University of Iowa Center for
International Finance and Development E-Book (http:/ / www.uiowa. edu/ ifdebook/ ebook2/ contents/ part4-I. shtml)
[37] " After 2015: Rethinking Pro-Poor Policy (http:/ / www. ids. ac. uk/ publication/ after-2015-pro-poor-policy)" Institute of Development
Studies (IDS) In Focus Policy Brief 9.1. June 2009.
[38] Vandemoortele, Milo (2010) "The MDGs and Equity" (http:/ / www. odi. org. uk/ resources/ details. asp?id=4895& title=mdgs-equity),
Overseas Development Institute.
[39] Singer,M. 2008. "Drugs and Development: The Global Impact of Drug Use and Trafficking on Social and Economic Development.
International Journal of Drug Policy 19 (6):467-478.
[40] Kabeer, Naila. 2003. Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals. A Handbook for
Policy-Makers and Other Stakeholders. Commonwealth Secretariat.
[41] Grown, Caren. 2005. "Answering the Skeptics: Achieving Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals". Development 48(3):
82$86.
[42] Noeleen Heyzer. 2005. "Making the Links: Women's Rights and Empowerment Are Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals".
Gender and Development, Vol.13, No.1, Millennium Development Goals (March 2005), pp. 9-12
[45] (http:/ / www. usunnewyork.usmission. gov/ fact_sheet/ ecosoc_Chapter_4_apr15. pdf)
[51] (http:/ / www. ausaid. gov.au/ media/ release. cfm?BC=Media& ID=5854_3696_6753_7484_7221)
Millennium Development Goals
14
External links
Official website (http:/ / www. un. org/ millenniumgoals)
Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger by 2015 | UN Millennium Development Goal (http:/ / knowledgenetwork.
alumni. msu. edu/ msu-latin-american-caribbean-studies/
unmillenniumdevelopmentgoalseradicateextremepovertyandhunger. html) curated by the Center for Latin
American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University
Ensure Environmental Sustainability by 2015 | UN Millennium Development Goal (http:/ / knowledgenetwork.
alumni. msu. edu/ msu-latin-american-caribbean-studies/
ensureenvironmentalsustainability2015unmillenniumdevelopmentgoal. html) curated by the Center for Latin
American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University
Gillian Sorensen, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation, discusses UN Millennium Development
Goals (http:/ / conversations. psu. edu/ episodes/ gillian_sorensen)
Article Sources and Contributors
15
Article Sources and Contributors
Millennium Development Goals Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=565620623 Contributors: -1g, A5b, ASmartKid, Abanima, Alan Liefting, Alansohn, Aleclair94,
AlexandrDmitri, Alexius08, Alextsanghkugac, Aljullu, Allens, Altenmann, AndySimpson, Annesootybob, Anthony aragorn, Aryanf, Attilios, Babucke, Bacierra, Barras91, Bc239, Bebe ash,
Beland, Benny2times, Bethmills, Bgwhite, Bhawani Gautam, BiT, Bikepunk2, Bluerasberry, Bobby131313, Bodnotbod, Bonadea, BrendanFerguson, Brimba, Burrburr, Buxtehude, CBallard17,
CHYing, CaribDigita, Cartoonsinaction, CatDevRandom, Catquas, Causa sui, Cavrdg, Cdc, Chairman100, Charivari, Charles Matthews, Ched, Chrisguidry, Chuck SMITH, Cjh123, Ckatz,
ClaireKairys, ClaretAsh, Cleared as filed, Closedmouth, Cmoser, Cometh now as, CopperMurdoch, Cromwellt, Crosbiesmith, Cybercobra, DASonnenfeld, DBlomgren, DDD DDD, David
Biddulph, DavidJones, Davshul, Dawnseeker2000, Deagle AP, Delfindakila, DerHexer, Derek R Bullamore, Diogeneselcinico42, Diogoandre, DoomsDay349, Drestros power, Drgregmartin,
EP101, ESkog, Earth, Ed, Edward, El T, Elekhh, Elendil's Heir, Emily mdg, Enviroboy, Epbr123, Epistemophiliac, Erianna, ErikJosephson, Fabrizioromano89, Fanyavizuri, Favonian,
Fay.farstad, Fayenatic london, Feil0014, Fetchcomms, FeydHuxtable, Fieldday-sunday, Firemeteor, Formulax, Foxhound66, Fraggle81, Futuristas, Gastosnha, GenkiNeko, Giler, Gingerdj,
Gjakovskistefan, Glacialfox, Globalhealth, Gmaxwell, GoingBatty, Good Olfactory, Govgovgov, Gowr, Ground Zero, Grundle2600, HAmin86, Hacky, Haeinous, Hajenso, Hajor, Haphill,
Hayabusa future, HectorAE, Hede2000, Hehetrolollo, Hmccann, HooHooHoo, Hu12, ICAPTCHA, IChand99, Ictlogist, Ilinri, In fact, InternationalOrganization-lover, Internet writer, Iridescent,
JSD1001, Jacob Lundberg, Jcuadros, Jean-Francois Landry, JenLouise, Jj2006, Joachim2222, JoeSmack, Joh-hillje, John of Reading, Jojhutton, JonHarder, JosephJames6, Joxemai, Jrat08,
Justinm704, Kaihsu, Kaiwanxiao, Kanags, Kane johnsey, Kelly Fountain, Killiondude, Kingturtle, Klemen Kocjancic, Kmcdonalds, Kofiannansrevenge, Kummi, Laonikoss, Laurelie237,
Lbeaumont, Lewiitom, LilyKitty, Linguisticgeek, Lotje, Lrw14, Ludahai, MW4688, Magioladitis, Mamawrites, Marcika, Marekzp, Mariadelcarmenpatricia, Mark Richards, MarkJablonski,
Martarius, Martpol, Masterchunx, Materialscientist, Mike Rosoft, Misterx2000, Montmorencie, Mphil1805, Mrturkies, Mschiffler, Mysdaao, Nadaga, Naniwako, Neutrality, Noommos, Nopetro,
Northamerica1000, NsTO, Nsae Comp, Numbo3, Nusratspm, ODIharandor, Ohnoitsjamie, OneWorld22, Orenburg1, Ozzykhan, PFHLai, PShadzik, PTSE, Patbol, Pawsable, Philip Trueman,
Pigman, Pinar, Piotrus, Policy commentator, Pras, Prashanthns, R'n'B, Rd232, Rebirthcinema, Reinoudd, Retrolord, RexNL, Rhinnon and miss thomson, Rjholmer, Rjwilmsi, Robertdavis71,
Rockedphilippines, Romanm, Ross Fraser, Routerone, Runner7254, RyanGerbil10, SFC9394, Saber girl08, Saluton, Serein (renamed because of SUL), Seric2, Shandris, Shoeshinecs,
SiobhanHansa, Siri We, Smb1138, Snek01, Solarra, Sole Soul, Some jerk on the Internet, Somo81, Soorej, Sorna Doon, Soulantlers, StAnselm, Steinberger, Sun Creator, SvenAERTS, Sverdrup,
Swpb, SylviaStanley, Temanning, The Catfish, Theinternationaljournal, Themindset, Thunderain, Tkn20, Tolly4bolly, Tomo64, Twilsonb, TyA, UICIFD, Ulflarsen, Umni2, Uncle Milty,
Vbaxter, VentrueCapital, VernoWhitney, Vladimir.frolov, Wavelength, Weser, WikHead, Wikidea, Willcrowne, Wl219, Woody212, Wossi, Xaque, Xionbox, Y.y.zhou, Yambaram, Yhnell,
Yitzhak1995, Zap Rowsdower, Zhernovoi, Zodon, Mnnan Jenncann, , !"#$.%!&'(.24, 603 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Flag of the United Nations.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Wilfried Huss / Anonymous
File:Millennium Development Goals, UN Headquarters, New York City, New York - 20080501.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Millennium_Development_Goals,_UN_Headquarters,_New_York_City,_New_York_-_20080501.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Contributors: Babucke.
File:Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 graph comparing child mortality rates in 1990 and 2008.png Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Millennium_Development_Goals_Report_2010_graph_comparing_child_mortality_rates_in_1990_and_2008.png License: Public Domain
Contributors: book by Lois Jensen.
License
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