Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and going beyond them – comment and argument over the situation in Africa

First read Own the Goals by John McArthur on;

http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2013/02/21-millennium-dev-goals-mcarthur

also available on:
http://www.fungglobalinstitute.org/en/own-goals
and Promises to Keep – Crafting Better Development Goals, by Bjorn Lomborg in Foreign Affairs Nov-Dec 2014

The goals were set for 2015 in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (2000) and took as a baseline the data for 1990.
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
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
http://www.cmaxadvisory.com/public-policy-briefs/shifting-goalposts-how-the-millennium-development-goals-herald-another-failure-for-global-womens-hea
“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
but:
http://fpif.org/africas-supposed-failure-achieve-millennium-development-goals/
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2014%20MDG%20report/MDG%202014%20English%20web.pdf
Beyond 2015
http://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2014/the-impending-failure-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/

http://www.sd-network.eu/pdf/case%20studies/ESDN%20Case%20Study_No%2013_MDGs%20and%20post-2015%20debate_FINAL.pdf

http://www.cigionline.org/publications/2012/10/post-2015-development-agenda-goals-targets-and-indicators?gclid=CO6w0uDSosICFcPMtAodJmkAwQ
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/beyond2015.shtml
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/beyond2015-news.shtml
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/beyond2015-faqs.shtml
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/beyond2015-resources.shtml
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jun/17/millennium-development-goals-beyond-2015
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/sep/25/new-development-goals-un-general-assembly
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/oct/16/mdg-sustainable-development-goals
http://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2014/the-impending-failure-of-the-sustainable-development-goals/
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/post-2015-consensus?gclid=CMCSw9fTosICFSXKtAodaSwANA
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/post-2015-consensus?gclid=CNj4-q_UosICFYHLtAodRDgAsA
http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/about/mdg.shtml
http://johnmcarthur.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Fall_2012_Rethinking_Global_Development_Goals-JW-McArthur.pdf
http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CossartDevelopment_brief.pdf

Looking at other people's essays on international relations

This is a good site for looking at examples of other people’s essays on international relations:

http://www.e-ir.info/category/essays/

Also:

http://www.ukessays.com/services/example-essays/international-relations/international-cooperation-kyoto-protocol.php

Longer essays:

http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/international-relations/

Dissertations and how to write them:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/phir/undergraduate/studyresources/top-student-essays/

http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/SPIREssayGuide2013.pdf

Aung San Suu Kyi

If you are asked to write about a statesman or woman who you think has played an important role in today's world you might want to consider:

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

 

LINKING WORDS exercise

1)      _________________ trying to deal with the refugee problem in Africa, NGOs play an important role in providing and improving education there.

2)      The situation is deteriorating. _________________it is important to act quickly.

3)      The US says it has made agreements with local Iraqi leaders _______________ to improve security in Baghdad and strengthen the rule of law.

4)      _______________ with other EU economies that of Poland has performed well during the current economic crisis.

5)      The Israeli government says it will only negotiate with a Palestinian team which includes Hamas representatives_____________ Hamas first recognises Israel’s right to exist.

6)      _____________ the government of Israel the number of suicide bomber attacks has been greatly reduced mainly ___________ the barrier that has been built. ____________ , the wall has done enormous damage to the Palestinian economy.

7)      They should act immediately. _____________ it will be too late.

8)      The Spanish socialists won the election having campaigned against the war in Iraq. ____________ , Spanish forces were then withdrawn from Iraq.

9)      ______________cutting taxes, he raised them.

10)  ______________his father, George W. Bush was re-elected.

11)   Security operations in Mali are believed to have had some success, _____________  those in Afghanistan continue to be seen as facing enormous difficulties.

12)  ______________I am not an expert in the law I will need to ask a lawyer for his advice.

13)  ______________using force diplomats try to achieve their goals ____________ persuasion.

14)  Germany is unlikely to support an enlargement of the UN Security Council _____________ it receives a permanent seat on that body.

15)  The government will have to provide more effective retraining programs _____________ people can be reintegrated into the workforce as quickly as possible.

16)  ______________  I have the information you need I will forward it to you.

17)  There is an ongoing debate in the EU about _____________ to continue to admit new members or not.

18)  __________ Russia ___________ China have doubts about Western involvement in the Middle East.

19)  ______________criticism from the WTO and some member states, the European Union does not intend to completely abolish the Common Agricultural Policy. Instead, it will be reformed.

20)  ______________the fall in house prices, many US banks that specialised in mortgages found themselves in serious trouble.

whether                                  according to               despite                        rather than

because of                              providing that             otherwise                    as soon as

through                                   whereas                      compared                    since

and                                         however                      due to                         that is why

as a result                               so as                            as well as                    so that

instead of                               both                            unless                           unlike