Millennium
Development Goals
The
United Nations Foundation is committed to helping the UN achieve the
eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The MDGs are a commitment
by the UN to establish
peace and a healthy global economy
by focusing on major issues like poverty, children’s health,
empowerment of women and girls, sustainable environment, disease, and
development.
We
believe the eighth MDG – calling for a Global Partnership for
Development – is probably the most important. It reflects the fact
that the fates
of all people and nations are linked.
Unless we can help the world’s poor create a better life, no one’s
prosperity can be secure.
Below
is a list of the eight MDGs and their individual targets.
The
Millennium Development Goals:
1.
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2.
Achieve universal primary education
3.
Promote gender equality and empower women
4.
Reduce child mortality
5.
Improve maternal health
6.
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7.
Ensure environmental sustainability
Integrate
the principles of sustainable development into country policies and
programs; reverse loss of environmental resources.
Reduce
by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
drinking water.
Achieve
significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum
dwellers, by 2020.
8.
Develop a global partnership for development
Develop
further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based,
predictable and non-discriminatory. Includes a commitment to good
governance, development and poverty reduction—nationally and
internationally.
Address
the least developed countries’ special needs. This includes
tariff- and quota-free access for their exports; enhanced debt
relief for heavily indebted poor countries; cancellation of official
bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance
for countries committed to poverty reduction.
Address
the special needs of landlocked and small island developing States.
Deal
comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems through
national and international measures to make debt sustainable in the
long term.
In
cooperation with the developing countries, develop decent and
productive work for youth.
In
cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to
affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
In
cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of
new technologies—especially information and communications
technologies.
Success,
failure, progress and after 2015
First
read Own
the Goals
by John McArthur on;
and
Promises to Keep
– Crafting Better Development Goals, by Bjorn Lomborg in Foreign
Affairs Nov-Dec 2014
This
series of short articles is also very useful
http://borgenproject.org/category/millennium-development-goals-2/
“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.” 2012
This
is a quote from:
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 …” (2012)
For
full article see:
Some
experts argued that global progress in trying to achieve the poverty
reduction MDG was the result of economic growth, particularly in
China (lifting huge numbers out of poverty) and India, rather than
the result of international cooperation and aid programs based on the
MDGs. Progress globally is difficult to measure and very uneven.
(Sept. 2015)
Experts
argued that despite global progress in poverty reduction, Africa
considered separately is unlikely to meet its 2015 MDG target 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. In sub-Saharan Africa 43%
percent of the population
lived in extreme poverty in 2012 compared with 56% in 1990. (2012).
In this situation any progress is of course good news but eradicating
extreme poverty would seem to be a very long term goal for Africa.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/oct/16/mdg-sustainable-development-goals
What
did the millennium development goals achieve?
MDG
1: The
number of people living on less than $1.25 a day has been reduced
from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015, although the target
of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger was
narrowly missed.
MDG
2: Primary
school enrolment figures have shown an impressive rise, but the goal
of achieving universal primary education has just been missed, with
the net enrolment rate increasing from 83% in 2000 to 91% this year.
MDG
3: About
two-thirds of developing countries have achieved gender parity in
primary education.
MDG
4: The
child mortality rate has reduced by more than half over the past 25
years – falling from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births – but
it has failed to meet the MDG target of a drop of two-thirds.
MDG
5: The
global maternal mortality ratio has fallen by nearly half – short
of the two-thirds reduction the MDGs aimed for.
MDG
6: The
target of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids by
2015 has not been met, although the number of new HIV infections fell
by around 40% between 2000 and 2013.
MDG
7: Some
2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water
since 1990, so the target of halving the proportion of people without
access to improved sources of water was achieved in 2010 – five
years ahead of schedule. However, 663 million people across the world
still do not have access to improved drinking water.
MDG
8: Between
2000 and 2014, overseas development assistance from rich nations to
developing countries increased by 66% in real terms, and in 2013
reached the record figure of $134.8bn (£80.3bn).
Here's
nother summary of the progress made according to a different source:
Goal
1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
The
extreme poverty rate in developing countries was at 47 percent in
1990 and has since dropped to 14 percent in 2015. In those same 25
years the global number of people living in extreme poverty has
dropped from 1,926 million to 836 million. And undernourished
percentage in developing countries has dropped from 23.3 to 12.9.
Goal
2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
The
number of out-of-school children has dropped by half between 2000 and
2015: 100 million to 57 million. In sub-Saharan African, net
enrollment rate has increased by 20 percent from 2000 to 2015. The
global 8 percent increase in literacy rates has also narrowed
the literacy gap between men and women.
Goal
3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
In
Southern Asia, for every 100 boys enrolled in primary education, 74
girls were enrolled in 1990, and now 103 girls are enrolled for every
100 boys. In 1990 women made up 35 percent of the paid workforce
outside the agricultural sector; today they make up 41 percent of
said work force.
Goal
4: Reduce Child Mortality
The
global number of deaths for children below the age of 5 has
dropped from 12.7 million to 6 million between 1990 and 2015. The
measles vaccination has prevented 15.6 million deaths between 2000
and 2013.
Goal
5: Improve Maternal Health
Globally,
the mortality ration has dropped by 45 percent since 1990 with most
of its decline occurring since 2000. Contraception use has increased
by 9 percent among women between the ages of 15 to 49.
Goal
6: Combat HI/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
In
2003 0.8 million people with HIV were receiving Antiretroviral
Therapy Treatment (ART), and by 2014 13.6 million people with HIV
were receiving ART. Nine hundred million insecticide-treated
mosquito nets were delivered to malaria prone countries in
sub-Saharan Africa between 2004 and 2014.
Goal
7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Since
1990, 1.9 billion people have gained access to clean, drinking tap
water. Improved sanitation is now available to 2.1 billion people.
Goal
8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Between
2000 and 2014, the official development assistance from developed
countries rose from USD $81 billion to USD $135 billion. The global
effort of the MDGs has also brought mobile-cellular signal to 95
percent of the world population, and access to Internet has grown
from 6 percent to 43 percent between 2000 and 2015.
According
to Ban Ki-moon, the MDGs results have taught world leaders lessons
that will help with carrying out the Sustainable Development Goals
for the next 15 years. He said, “Reflecting on the MDGs and looking
ahead to the next 15 years, there is no question that we can deliver
on our shared responsibility to end poverty, leave no one behind and
create a world of dignity for all.”
Situation
in September 2015 and serious comment on MDGs
Excellent
articles from the Guardian Weekly Sept 2015, definitely to read:
http://borgenproject.org/category/millennium-development-goals-2/
Beyond
2015 – The Sustainable Development Goals
Defining
Poverty
The
World Bank defines poverty in absolute terms. The bank defined
extreme
poverty in
2008 as
living on less than US$1.25 per day (PPP)
based on 2005 prices (up from US$1.00 per day in 2000), and moderate
poverty
as less than $2 a day. It has been estimated that in 2008, 1.4
billion people had consumption levels below US$1.25 a day and 2.7
billion lived on less than $2 a day.
As
differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the global
poverty line has to be periodically updated to reflect these changes.
In
2015, the World Bank defined extreme poverty as living on less than
US$1.90 (PPP) per day using 2011 prices, and moderate
poverty as
less than $2 or $5 a day (but note that a person or family with
access to subsistence resources, e.g., subsistence farmers, may have
a low cash income without a correspondingly low standard of living –
they are not living "on" their cash income but using it as
a top up).
The
World Bank estimates that in 2015, 702.1 million people globally were
living below the poverty line, down from 1.75 billion in 1990 and
just
over 900 million in 2012 (based on the latest available data). Of the
702.1
million in 2015, 347.1 million people, live in sub-Saharan Africa
(35.2% of the population of Africa) and 231.3 million in South Asia
(13.5% of the population there).
We
should also bear in mind the effect of population growth.
According to latest World Bank estimates, the share of Africans who
are poor fell from 56% in 1990 to 43% in 2012. However, because
of population growth
many
more people are poor,
the report says. The most optimistic scenario shows about 330 million
poor in 2012, up from about 280 million in 1990.
The
Sustainable
Development Goals
No
Poverty
- End poverty in
all its forms everywhere
Extreme
poverty has been cut by more than half since 1990- however, more
than 1 in 5 people live on less than $1.25 a day
Poverty
is more than lack of income or resources- it includes lack of basic
services, such as education, hunger, social discrimination and
exclusion, and lack or participation in decision making.
Gender
inequality plays a large role in the perpetuation of poverty and
it's risks; They then face potentially life-threatening risks from
early pregnancy, and often lost hopes for an education and a better
income.
Age
groups are affected differently when struck with poverty; its most
devastating effects are on children, to whom it poses a great
threat. It affects their education, health, nutrition, and
security. It also negatively affects the emotional, spiritual and
emotional development of children through the environment it
creates.
-
Globally,
1 in 9 people are undernourished, the vast majority of these people
live in developing countries
Agriculture
is the single largest employer in the world, providing livelihoods
for 40 per cent of today’s global population. It is the largest
source of income and jobs for poor rural households. Women comprise
on average 43 per cent of the agricultural labor force in
developing countries, and over 50 per cent in parts of Asia and
Africa, yet they only own 20% of the land.
Poor
nutrition causes nearly half (45 per cent) of deaths in children
under five – 3.1 million children each year.
Good
Health and Well-being
- Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being
for all at all ages
Significant
strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing
some of the common killers associated with child and maternal
mortality, and major progress has been made on increasing access to
clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio
and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
However,
only half of women in developing countries have received the health
care they need, and the need for family planning in increasing
exponentially, while the need met is growing slowly- more than 225
million women have an unmet need for contraception.
-
-
Major
progress has been made for education access, specifically at the
primary school level, for both boys and girls. However, access does
not always mean quality of education, or completion of primary
school. Currently, 103 million youth worldwide still lack basic
literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women
Target
1 "By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free,
equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to
relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes"- shows the
commitment to nondiscriminatory education outcomes
-
Providing
women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent
work, and representation in political and economic decision-making
processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and
humanity at large
While
a record 143 countries guaranteed equality between men and women in
their Constitutions by 2014, another 52 had not taken this step. In
many nations, gender discrimination is still woven through legal
and social norms
Though
goal 5 is the gender equality stand-alone goal- the SDG's can only
be successful if women are completely integrated into each and
every goal
-
Affordable
and Clean Energy
- Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable
and modern energy for all
-
-
Reduced
Inequalities
- Reduce income inequality
within and among countries
Sustainable
Cities and Communities
- Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable
Responsible
Consumption and Production
- Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Climate
Action
- Take urgent action to combat climate
change
and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments
in renewable energy
-
-
Peace,
Justice and Strong Institutions
- Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable
development,
provide access
to justice
for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions
at all levels
Partnerships
for the Goals
- Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global
partnership for sustainable
development
As
of August 2015, there were 169 proposed targets for these goals and
304 proposed indicators to show compliance.
Some
good, critical comment on the SDGs
A
report by the International
Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) criticized the goals of
the SDGs as not ambitious enough. Instead of aiming for an end to
poverty by 2030, the report "An Ambitious Development Goal:
Ending Hunger and Undernutrition by 2025" called for a greater
emphasis on eliminating hunger and undernutrition and achieving that
in 5 years less, by 2025. It based its claims on an analysis of the
experiences from China, Vietnam, Brazil and Thailand and identifies 3
pathways to achieving this goal: agriculture-led, social protection,
and nutrition intervention-led, or a combination of these approaches.
The
SDGs have been criticized for being contradictory, because in seeking
high levels of global GDP
growth,
they will undermine their own ecological
objectives. It has also been noted that, in relation to the headline
goal of eliminating extreme poverty, "a growing number of
scholars are pointing out that $1.25 is actually not adequate for
human subsistence,"
and the poverty line should be revised to as high as $5.
A
commentary in The
Economist
argued that the 169 targets for the SDGs are too many, calling them
"sprawling," "misconceived," and "a mess"
compared to the Millennium
Development Goals.
It also criticised the goals for ignoring local context and promoting
"cookie-cutter development policies." They claimed that all
other sustainable development goals are founded on achieving SDG
number one. The
Economist
estimated that trying to alleviate poverty and achieving the other
sustainable development goals will require about US$2 trillion to 3
trillion per annum for the next 15 years, which critics do not see as
being feasible. The reduction in the number of people living in
abject poverty has been criticized as a result of the growth of
China; the MDGs have been mistakenly credited for this drop. The SDGs
have also been criticized due to the inherent shortcomings in the
very concept of sustainable development and the inability of the
latter to either stabilize rising carbon dioxide concentration or
ensure environmental harmony.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/ng-interactive/2015/jan/19/sustainable-development-goals-changing-world-17-steps-interactive
Intersectoral
linkages
Water,
sanitation, and hygiene
WASH
experts have stated that without progress on Goal 6, the other goals
and targets will not be able to be achieved.
Climate
change
Nations
and other parties negotiating at the UN have highlighted the links
between the post-2015 SDG process, the Financing
for Development
process to be concluded in Addis Ababa in July 2015, and the COP
21
Climate Change conference in Paris in December 2015.
In
May 2015, a report concluded that only a very ambitious climate deal
in Paris in 2015 will enable countries to reach the sustainable
development goals and targets. The report also states that tackling
climate change will only be possible if the SDGs are met; and that
development and climate are inextricably linked, particularly around
poverty, gender equality, and energy. The UN encourages the public
sector to take initiative in this effort for minimizing negative
impacts on the environment.
Women
and gender equality
Despite
stand-alone goals on health, gender equality
and education, among others, there is widespread consensus that
progress against any and all of the SDGs will be stalled if women's
empowerment and gender equality is not prioritized. Arguments and
evidence from sources as diverse and as economically oriented as the
OECD, to expected sources such as UN Women, bolster the case that
investments in women and
girls impact national and global development in ways that exceed
their initial scope of interest.
Economic
growth and infrastructure
World
Pensions Council (WPC)
development economists have argued that the twin considerations of
long-term economic growth and infrastructure investment weren’t
addressed properly and prioritized as they should be: “More
worryingly, ‘Work and Economic Growth’ and ‘Technological
Innovation and Infrastructure Investment’ joined the
[SDGs] priority
list at N°8 and N°9 respectively, a rather mediocre ranking which
defies economic common sense”
We
should also consider the contradictions involved in trying to achieve
goals 1-3 and 8-9 at the same time as goals 13-15, as well as
problems with achieving all of the goals given current global
demographic trends.
This
World Bank Analysis seems very convincing:
Also
interesting:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/02/20/poverty-has-fallen-yet-many-cambodians-are-still-at-risk-of-slipping-back-into-poverty
and
this aticle makes a powerful argument:
https://newint.org/blog/2015/09/25/un-sdgs-miss-point/
