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MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

UNIT OBJECTIVE

This unit will serve as a lens through which students will understand the importance of forming a global partnership for development, and how this will help countries achieve the first seven MDGs. Students will explore concepts of trade, information and communications technology, global partnership and foreign aid. Students will participate in math, science, language arts and civics activities that engage them in critical thinking, dialogue, research and role playing.

RELEVANT SKILLS

Mathematics: Interpret information found in a chart; Perform mathematical computations; Manipulate a data set. Science: Identify elements on the periodic table; Interpret data on maps, diagrams and tables; Identify the parts of a computer. Civics: Role playing; Critical thinking; Public debates. Language Arts: Writing narrative compositions; Analyze a speech through writing; Constructing arguments.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Why is Global Partnership for Development important? How does it affect a country’s development?

What other nations are working with my country to achieve the goal of Global Partnership for Development?

How can trade and foreign aid contribute to nations’ ability to meet the MDGs?

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LIST OF KEY TERMS

absolute advantage African Development Fund (AfDF) Aid atomic number atomic weight Barack Obama benchmark circuit citizenship Commitment communication comparative advantage compound CPU Debt Developed country Developing Countries Doha Development Agenda Round (DDA Round) Donor Nations E-business Economics element European Union (EU)

Extreme poverty foreign aid global citizenship global partnership good governance Gross National Product Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) ICT Industrialized country Inter-American Development Bank (I-ADB) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Intiatives Landlocked country Leadership living conditions Macroeconomics micro chip micro processor Microeconomics Millennium Development Goals Summit Moderate poverty Monterrey Consensus

Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) Multilateral trade nation Open trade opportunity cost partnership periodic table protons Purchasing power parity raw materials Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Relative poverty technology Trade United Nations United Nations General Assemby US Global Development Policy US Global Health Initiative

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UNIT 9 CONTENT

Overview: The Millennium Declaration recognizes that in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, Global Partnership is crucial. It is important for countries to work together to be able to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, reduce maternal and child mortality rates, reduce the number of deaths related to HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases and to ensure environmental sustainability. It is also imperative that developed countries contribute through Official Development Assistance (ODA) or international agreements, debt relief and fair trade rules to the developing nations1. The goal of developing a global partnership between nations was initiated in the Monterrey Consensus on development finance, the Doha ‘development’ round on trade, and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, respectively2. Understanding the Problem: Monterrey Consensus: It was in March 2002, in Monterrey, Mexico, when heads of State and Government addressed the challenges of financing development around the world. The goal was to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development as the world advanced to a fully inclusive and equitable global economic system. It was decided to mobilize and increase the use of financial resources, achieve economic conditions to eliminate poverty, improve social conditions, raise living standards, and protect the environment to ensure development for all. It was recognized that while each country has a primary responsibility for its own economic and social development, we live in an interconnected world where domestic economies are interwoven with the global economic system. Effective use of trade and investment opportunities can help countries fight poverty. The international economic environment needs to support national development efforts3. Trade Until the Doha Development Agenda Round of trade negotiations (or Doha Round) in 2001, international trade has favored developed and industrialized countries over developing ones. The main trust of goals developed at the Doha Round are that developed countries should open their trade markets to accept more goods from the developing world and that developing countries will have a “major stake in developing multilateral trade rules and disciplines” (Zedillo, 2005, p.2). However, the sense of urgency for balancing trade developed at the Doha Round was quickly extinguished due to many reasons, particularly the fact that the United States, Japan and the European Union (EU) have not used their financial and political influence to lead the way. The United States, Japan and the EU possess extensive trade markets in which billions of dollars in goods and services move freely around the world. Developing nations can benefit from being part of US, Japanese and EU trade networks. The Doha Round goal of developing an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system

1 http://www.unfpa.org.br/lacodm/arquivos/mdg8.pdf 2 http://www.ipc-undp.org/publications/mdg/MDG8_OnTrack-UNDP-Jun03.pdf 3 http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/monterrey/MonterreyConsensus.pdf

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has been met by various setbacks since 2001; setbacks that threaten to derail the entire ‘development through trade’ project. When trade policies and practices are developed in conjunction with “well designed social policies”, it will help towards fostering development as well as other macroeconomic and microeconomic practices and institutions. Debt Reduction When poor countries have not generated enough funds through trade or investments to meet civic obligations, like the provision of schools and health care, they borrow money from international banks and lending agencies. The main lending agencies are the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a development lending institution that forms part of the World Bank group. Once loan countries receive funds, they begin a long and difficult road to repaying loans. Money that could be used to maintain projects and programs created with loans or to fund development initiatives is used to repay loan debts, leaving many developing countries, essentially, in the same position they were before receiving loans. “In 1996, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative so that countries encumbered by debt could get back on their feet” (World Bank, 2010). The main goal of the HIPC is to reduce the debt burden of countries and to ensure that poor countries do not incur debts that they cannot handle. To assist the efforts of HIPC, in 2006, the World Bank and the IMF created the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). MDRI provides additional funding to HIPCs to help them meet MDG targets. Under the MDRI, up to 100% of a country’s debt can be cancelled with MDRI funds, but only for certain types of loans and only if money was borrowed from the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Fund (AfDF). Aid There is great need for direct aid or financial assistance to health care programs that can reduce the spread of disease and provide medicines that prevent deaths related to the most deadly afflictions related to extreme poverty, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition. Aid involves cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, which provide access to affordable essential drugs, and the sharing of technical and expert knowledge from developed nations to developing ones. Both rich and poor nations have equally significant parts to play in giving and receiving aid. Rich nations must do more and give more in the way of funding and activities that improve the lives of the world’s poorest in tangible ways, avoiding small scale projects and programs that attract wide media attention but, in reality, affect the lives of a few4. The process and structures through which poor nations formulate and implement policies aimed at development should be “transparent and honest”5.

4 Sachs, 2005, pp. 266- 268. 5 Sachs, 2005, p.269.

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Technology In cooperation with the private sector, it is important to make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies (ICT). Investment in ICT will improve the connection between people, foster more e-business and develop communication infrastructure such as the provision of electricity and the development of sustainable wired and wireless networks. Technology, through e-business, is a crucial factor in expanding macroeconomic and microeconomic trade in developing states. Technology is also a key factor in improving educational skills and training, necessary for meeting the demands of contemporary markets. How does the MDG 8 address the problem? The Millennium Development Goal 8 is to Develop a Global Partnership for Development. The goal is further divided into six main targets listed below:

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Why is it important? Progress on global commitments for improved aid, fairer trade and steep debt relief will determine, to a large extent, the successful achievement of the first seven MDGs by 2015 in most, if not all, developing countries. It is, therefore, important to assess whether current progress of MDG 8 points towards a stronger global partnership, based on mutual accountability. Historically, developed countries have escaped accountability when failing to fulfill their pledges and live up to their international commitments6. The goal to Develop a Global Partnership for Development ensures that not just developing, but also developed countries, are accountable for their commitments.

6 http://www.ipc-undp.org/publications/mdg/MDG8_OnTrack-UNDP-Jun03.pdf

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Current Context: -Official development assistance stands at 0.31% of the combined national income of developed countries, still far short of the 0.7% UN target. Only five donor countries (Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) have reached or exceeded the target. Donor countries at the Gleneagles Group of Eight Summit and the UN World Summit in 2005 pledged to increase ODA to $146 billion in 2010. Currently, 2010 ODA levels are projected to be around $126 billion. This shortfall in aid affects Africa in particular. It is estimated that Africa will receive only about $11 billion out of the $25 billion increase promised at Gleneagles. - Debt burdens have eased for developing countries and remain well below historical levels. Forty countries qualify for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. Thirty-five of them have had future debt repayments reduced by $57 billion, and 28 have received additional assistance of $25 billion under the multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. But the existing major debt relief initiatives are coming to an end, and a number of low-income and small middle-income countries are in, or are at risk of, debt distress. -Access to information and communications technology (ICT) is expanding. Globally, an estimated 4.6 billion people had access to mobile phones by the end of 2009 — equivalent to one mobile cellular subscription for 67 out of every 100 people. Growth in mobile telephony remains strongest in the developing world, where mobile penetration had passed the 50 per cent mark by the end of 2009. In sub-Saharan Africa, where only 1 percent of people have access to fixed telephone lines, more than 30 percent now have access to mobile phones. - Only 1 in 6 people in the developing world has access to the Internet. By the end of 2008, 1.6 billion people, or 23 percent of the world population, were using the Internet. In the developed regions, the percentage remains much higher than in the developing world, where only 1 in 6 people are online. In Southern Asia, Oceania and sub- Saharan Africa, a mere 6 percent of people had Internet access.7 Challenges: - The recent economic crisis has been a big challenge and has affected the flow of aid from developed countries to developing countries. Due to the crisis, developing countries are also finding it difficult to ease their debt burdens. - The main underlying challenges for increasing exports are the creation of favorable business and investment environments which requires, amongst other things, an efficient judicial system. The creation of adequate infrastructures represents another challenge (for example roads and the supply of utilities, such as water and electricity).

7 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_FS_8_EN.pdf

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Progress: - One positive development is that ODA is coming from a more diverse range of countries, including those that in recent years have joined the European Union. Poland, for example, in 2004 launched a new campaign: ‘Millennium Development Goals: time to help others!’ and between 2003 and 2006 increased ODA from $27 million to $230 million8. - Valuable use of aid is to speed up the adoption of technologies that reduce common problems. This is one of the intentions of the MDG Africa Steering Group. The Group aims to strengthen implementation in five areas: health, education, agriculture and food security, infrastructure and statistical systems. It also aims to improve aid predictability and enhance country-level coordination9.” - In Tanzania primary school fees were abolished (in 2002) through debt relief, 30,000 new classrooms and 1,000 schools were built, and 18,000 additional teachers were trained. The percentage of children enrolled in Tanzania’s primary schools increased from 58.7% in 1990 to 94.8% in 2006. Nigeria established in 2005 a Virtual Poverty Fund to channel monies released by debt relief towards poverty reduction and the other MDGs. Mozambique used its debt service savings to vaccinate one million children against tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, to fight AIDS, and to build and electrify schools10. - There has been a growth in Africa’s mobile phone sector since the adoption of the Goal 8 target to make available the benefits of new technologies. Africa remains the region with the highest annual growth rate in mobile subscribers worldwide and added over 60 million new subscribers in 2006. With around 200 million subscribers by the end of 2006, 22% of Africa’s population had a mobile phone, compared to 3% with fixed telephone lines and 5% who are Internet users11. How does this relate to the other issues? If the world is to attain the MDGs, an important condition will be that aid, trade and debt relief are driven by human development concerns12. Nations and international organizations will need to work together in order to meet the MDG 8. The issue of poverty and unemployment can be addressed through developing countries greater access to the markets of developed countries as well as aid assistance for developed countries. When poverty is eradicated and families have employment opportunities they are more likely to send their children to school. Also through access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis can be addressed.

8 http://www.beta.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/poverty-reduction/poverty-website/mdg-good-

practices/MDGGoodPractices.pdf 9 http://www.beta.undp.org/content/dam/aplaws/publication/en/publications/poverty-reduction/poverty-website/mdg-good-

practices/MDGGoodPractices.pdf 10 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel/pdf/newsroom/Goal%208%20FINAL.pdf 11 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel/pdf/newsroom/Goal%208%20FINAL.pdf 12 http://www.ipc-undp.org/publications/mdg/MDG8_OnTrack-UNDP-Jun03.pdf

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VIDEOCONFERENCE

Date

Dial-in Time

Duration

Moderator(s)

Theme (Suggested theme: Global Citizenship)

Pre-Conference Activities/Preparation

Teachers of partner schools should communicate before the videoconference to discuss the structure of the session; how and who will facilitate; how students will share their ideas (will there be designated student speakers/representatives? or will each student raise their hand?) Teachers should have students read the following before the video conference (teachers may want to display the text on a computer or projector for students to read): Global Citizenship Normally, when we think of citizenship we think of people as citizens within nations. In fact, people often use the terms citizen and national interchangeably. Most nations have national education systems, that is, mass education systems funded through public funds like taxes. Most national education systems, through the school curriculum, train citizens to live within the nation. Citizens are taught the symbols of nationhood, such as flags, national anthems and coats of arms, national laws and are encouraged to value the idea of belonging to a nation. However, in the last two decades, the speed and ease of air travel, the merging of world economic systems, and the increased flow of information through the Internet, have made the world a more interconnected place. Some have called this new interconnectedness ‘globalization’ and educators have argued that students should not just be educated to become national citizens, but global citizens. It is not that national citizenship is no longer important. It is that globalization calls for individuals, organizations, businesses, industries, and governments

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to consider how activities that occur within national borders affect other countries and regions of the world. As global citizens, we think about “what is happening in the world, how it affects our lives, the lives of others and the planet itself” (Andrzejewski & Alessio, 2003). How do the plastic containers we throw in the river in our backyard affect those who live near the river delta? How do dangerous and toxic factory wastes in a one country affect the fish in another country? Even the world’s nations must think globally, as it is clear that many of the world’s problems like extreme poverty, disease, wars and illiteracy can only be solved if countries join together in global partnerships, as global citizens to help solve these problems.

VC Outline Introduction: Moderator will introduce the theme of the conversation and the instructions for participation. Warm Up: Ask students to think of words that they think are associated with “citizenship”. As students to share their ideas, the teachers (or a student from each class) should write the associated words on a board for the whole class to see. Discussion Content: Ask the following questions and have students discuss:

How would you define citizenship? What does it mean to be a global citizen? What can you do in your own community to become a

global citizen? Can you think of instances when events/activities that

occur in your community affect other people in the world?

Conclusion/wrap-up: Closing statements made by the moderator or a student volunteer. Post-VC Activities: Based on the discussion question during the videoconference, “What can you do in your own community to become a global citizen?”, come up with a class action plan of 1-2 things the students can do in their community in the short-term (to be done within the next week or month). Keep a written record of the action plan and what was done as a class. Share it with the partner school by posting the class experience on the Connect To Learn website.

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Student Roles Different students can be assigned roles during the videoconference: introduction/greeting; asking discussion questions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

African Development Bank Group. (2011). African Development Fund. Retreived from http://www.afdb.org/en/about-us/african-development-fund-adf/ Coudouel, Aline et. Al. (2002). Poverty measurement and analysis. In Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers sourcebook. Washington DC: World Bank, pp. 27- 74. International Monetary Fund. (2010) About the IMF. Retrieved from http://www.imf.org/external/about.htm International Monetary Fund. (2011) Factsheet: Debt relief under the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative. Retrieved from http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/hipc.htm Merriam-Webster. (2011). Dictionary: Economics. Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/economics Oxfam International. (2011). Millennium Development Goals, MDG8: Global partnership for development. Retrieved on June 17, 2011 from http://www.oxfam.org/en/campaigns/health-education/millennium-development goals Sachs, Jeffery D. (2005). The end of poverty: Economic possibilities for our time. New York: The Penguin Group. United Nations. (2010). The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010. Retrieved on June 17, 2011 from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202010%20En%20r5%20low%20res%2020100615%20-.pdf#page=70 World Bank. (2010). World Bank: Partnering to help countries move forward. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/mdgs/global_partnership.html World Bank Group. (2011). Data: How we classify countries. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications World Trade Organization. (2011). The Doha Round. Retrieved from http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/dda_e.htm Zedillo, Ernesto, Patrick Messerlin and Julia Neilson. (2005). Trade for development. UN Millenium Project, Taskforce on Trade

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