Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and going beyond them – comment and the Situation in Africa

The goals were set for 2015 in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (2000) and took as a baseline the data for 1990.
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm#goal1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals#Goal_1:_Eradicate_extreme_poverty_and_hunger
http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/0,,menuPK:476823~pagePK:64165236~piPK:64165141~theSitePK:469372,00.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2012/03/06/DC64970
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/expert_paper/How_to_Feed_the_World_in_2050.pdf
http://www.eoi.es/blogs/lauraambros/2012/01/17/millenium-development-goals-for-sub-saharan-africa/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17270014
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2012/drinking_water_20120306/en/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/dec/02/africa-significant-progress-mdgs
“The report said huge regional disparities existed. Almost half of the 2 billion people who have gained access to drinking water since 1990 live in China or India. Meanwhile, many countries in Africa are not on track to meet the target by 2015, with some countries actually falling back to pre-1990 rates of coverage. More than 40% of all people globally who lack access to drinking water live in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Quote from:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/mar/06/water-millennium-development-goals
also:
“Millennium Development Goals progress reports overestimate access to safe water
New research suggests that official reports overestimate progress towards the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for access to safe drinking water. The researchers show that the current methods oversimplify the measure by not accounting for water quality; the key measure of safety. In four of the five developing countries studied, the reduction in reported progress would be substantial. It is likely that MDG safe-water progress in other developing countries is similarly overstated …”
For full article see:
http://bristol.ac.uk/news/2012/8287.html
Some experts argue that global progress in trying to achieve the poverty reduction MDG is the result of economic growth, particularly in China (lifting huge numbers out of poverty), rather than the result of international cooperation and aid programs. Progress globally is difficult to measure and very uneven.
Some experts argue that Africa is unlikely to meet its 2015 MDGs due to the global recession and population growth. Progress is obviously relative to the scale of the challenge and many people are unaware of the extent of the problem in Africa:
sub-Saharan Africa, where 47 percent of the population lived in extreme poverty in 2008 compared with 51% in 1981.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/02/29/worlds-extreme-poverty-cut-in-half-since-1990/
This improvement seems to have partly disappeared as a result of the recession with the 2010 rate at 50.9% according to:
  http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm
 (figures from World Bank, text from World Hunger EducationService).
In this situation any progress is good news but eradicating extreme poverty would seem to be a very long term goal for Africa.
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/extreme-poverty-drops-worldwide/
http://africajournalismtheworld.com/2012/03/01/africa-fails-to-meet-world-bank-poverty-goal/
http://www.endpoverty2015.org/en/node/587
http://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/africa-and-the-millennium-development-goals
http://www.mdg-review.org/index.php/news/1-latest-news/254-mdg-summit-cape-town-2012
Good Foreign Affairs article:
http://www.fungglobalinstitute.org/en/own-goals

An update on sites for quizzes on current affairs and international relations

in italiano

http://www.mininterno.net/concorsi.asp

http://quiz.concorsipubblici.com/attualita.htm

http://www.studenti.it/test/quiz-maturita/esame-di-maturita-test-attualita-2012-2013/145409

in inglese

 http://c2w.com/quizzes/105346-International-Current-Affairs-Quiz-Questions-Answers-January-2013

http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/january-2012-current-affairs-online-test/648/

http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/january-2012-current-affairs-online-test/648/

http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/

http://currentaffairs2012quiz.blogspot.it/

http://c2w.com/quizzes/104777-International-Current-Affairs-Quiz-Questions-Answers-December-2012

http://www.britannica.com/quiz/browse

International Relations

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/essentials-of-international-relations5/ch/01/quiz.aspx

http://wps.pearsonlongman.com/long_goldstein_ir_10_cw/193/49502/12672533.cw/index.html

http://www.funtrivia.com/newflash/trivia.cfm?qid=197543

http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/political-science/international-politics/quiz.html

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=political-international-relations-concepts

http://quiz.thefullwiki.org/International_relations

http://www.flashcardexchange.com/cards/international-relations-quiz-1-1480137

http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?GroupID=40317&ResourceId=440599

http://quizlet.com/8677933/international-relations-quiz-5-flash-cards/

EU

http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/world/government/european_union.html

http://www.isabelperez.com/europe.htm (second half of page)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,5961,516289,00.html

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=test-your-knowledge-on-europe--european-union

http://www.toporopa.eu/en/

http://www.sporcle.com/games/Hejman/pay_your_union_dues

http://www.slideshare.net/EUintheUS/eu-quiz-for-europe-day-2012

http://www.quizfactor.com/quiz/european-union/127

UN

http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/quiz.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/quiz.shtml

http://www.wfuna.org/un-quiz

IMF

http://www.globalization101.org/imquiz/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44504678

http://quiz.thefullwiki.org/International_Monetary_Fund

NATO

http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2012/Chicago/Quizz-Nato-summit/EN/index.htm

http://www.go4quiz.com/1510/nato-quiz/

http://www.123facts.com/play-quiz/NATO-4056.html

http://www.sporcle.com/games/Jam1/natoquiz

International Law

http://www.funtrivia.com/newflash/trivia.cfm?qid=225157

http://www.globalization101.org/quiz-3/

General

http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/history/20th__21st_centuries/2000s_history.html

http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195365634/student/chapter03/mcquiz/

http://www.paulsquiz.com/people-quizzes-mainmenu-348/free-quiz-questions/people-quizzes/world-leaders-quiz-2

Environment

http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/quizzes

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-quiz-climate-change/

http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00442/quizalternativeenergy.htm

http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/quiz/quiz-climate/quiz01.htm

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/nuclear-power-quiz.htm

http://www.quizrevolution.com/ch/a114964/go/deforestation_quiz

http://www.factmonster.com/quizzes/global-warming/1.html

Nuclear weapons

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/nuclear-bomb-quiz.htm

http://www.sporcle.com/games/tags/nuclear

http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/World/Nuclear-Weapons-1-303346.html

World leaders

http://www.paulsquiz.com/people-quizzes-mainmenu-348/free-quiz-questions/people-quizzes/world-leaders-quiz-2

World geography

http://www.edsonleader.com/2013/04/01/take-our-ultimate-world-geography-quiz

World population

http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/fQ-Awdj/World-Population

The economic crisis in the US

https://educationforjustice.org/interact/EconQuiz/quiz.html

Failed states

http://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/20972-failed-states-and-dictators

Africa

http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/geography/africa.html

General

http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/history/20th__21st_centuries/2000s_history.html

http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195365634/student/chapter03/mcquiz/

http://www.paulsquiz.com/people-quizzes-mainmenu-348/free-quiz-questions/people-quizzes/world-leaders-quiz-2

http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/december-2012-current-affairs-online-test/4080/

http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/august-2012-current-affairs-online-test-2/2914/

http://c2w.com/quizzes/103869-World-Current-Affairs-Quiz-Questions-Answers-October-2012

http://www.historyteacher.net/GlobalStudies/Global9ReviewPage.htm

http://www.linkingsky.com/government-exams/bank/Bank-Exams-Preparation/Quizzes/International_Misc_Quiz-5.html

http://www.linkingsky.com/government-exams/bank/Bank-Exams-Preparation/Quizzes/index.html

http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/twt/archive/view/188543 

http://c2w.com/quizzes/105053-International-Current-Affairs-Quiz-Questions-Answers-January-2013

http://www.funtrivia.com/newflash/trivia.cfm?qid=306474

http://www.123facts.com/play-quiz/Diplomatic-Terms-6373.html

http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/1N5A13N/Diplomacy

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/sub_section/quiz

http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Humanities/Classic-International-Relations-197543.html

http://worldsavvy.org/docs/2007_WAC-Quiz.pdf

http://www.quiz4fun.com/category/curr

http://introtoglobalstudies.com/2012/04/international-studies-quiz/

http://www.funtrivia.com/html5/index.cfm?qid=306474

http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/1N5A13N/Diplomacy

http://democracyctr.org/blogfrombolivia/an-international-diplomacy-quiz/

http://www.leadthecompetition.in/PTs/tests.html

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=current-affairs-quiz-jan-2013

http://currentaffairs.freejobalert.com/

  Book

Il nuovo concorso per segretario di legazione

Novità maggio 2013:

http://www.simone.it/catalogo/v333_1.htm

Immigration to Italy (and the EU)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Italy

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/68857/5-2-million-legal-immigrants-live-in-Italy.html

http://www.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/nations/oman/2013/11/13/Immigration-EU-sources-Italy-Euromed-2014-summit-_9612160.html

http://www.west-info.eu/data-on-immigration-in-italy/

http://www.west-info.eu/west-news/topics/immigration-topics/illegal-immigration/?t=635

http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/news-and-views/press-briefing-notes/pbn-2013/pbn-listing/new-migration-statistics-in-ital.html

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/08/eu-immigration-policy-lampedusa-tragedy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCK_m3ds1fU

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/04/world/europe-ill-prepared-as-illegal-migration-rises/#.UvFfbfuzxQ0

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/30/world/eu-immigration-infographic/

http://www.euractiv.com/east-mediterranean/lampedusa-wake-call-eu-immigrati-news-531689

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/ministry/2013/10/30/Immigration-Italy-wants-EU-support-anti-trafficking_9545972.html