MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS BY 2015

BACK GROUND On September 8th, 2000, the 189 nations of the general assembly of the United Nations (UN) reaffirmed their commitment to working toward a world.

The historic promise 189 world leaders made at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The MDGs are an eight-point road map for improving the lives of the world´s poorest people.

SUMMARY

Review progress, shortfalls & challenges in achieving MDGs.Lessons learned for accelerating progress in achieving the MDGs & key success factors.Recommendations for action.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerGoal 2. Achieve universal primary educationGoal 3. Promote gender equality and empower womenGoal 4. Reduce child mortalityGoal 5. Improve maternal healthGoal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseasesGoal 7. Ensure environmental sustainabilityGoal 8. Develop a global partnership for development

GOAL 1. ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER

Target 1.A: Income PovertyPeople whose income is less than $1 a day.

Target 1.B: Decent work for allAchieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.

Target 1.C: HungerPeople who suffer from hunger

PROGRESS SO FAR

Progress on poverty reduction in China.Sub-Saharan Africa & in parts of Asia, poverty & hunger remains stubbornly high.Reduced access to food because of high food prices.117 countries for which data is available, 63 are on track to meet MDGs. Lack of progress in creating jobs.300 million new jobs will need to be created.

GOAL 2. ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION

Target 2.A: Primary schooling

Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

PROGRESS SO FAR

Enrollment in primary education has increased fastest in Sub-Saharan Africa.126 million children are still involved in hazardous work & remain out of school.In equalities continue to pose major barriers.

GOAL 3. PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN

Target 3.A: Girls’ education

Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education.

Beyond target 3.A: Other rights of women and girls

Guarantee women’s and girls’ property and inheritance rights.Strengthen opportunities for post-primary education for girls.Guarantee reproductive rights.Increase women’s share of seats in national parliaments.Eliminate gender inequality in employment

PROGRESS SO FAR

The root causes of gender disadvantage lie in societal attitudes.The share of national parliamentary seats held by women has increased slowly.The gender gap in primary schooling has narrowed & in secondary schooling has widened.Participation of women in labor force has increased.Significant gender gap in wages.Women failed to get decent jobs in Middle east & South Asia.Violence against women remain major blight on humanity every where.

GOAL 4. REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY

Target 4.A: Infant mortality and children’s rights

Reduce by two thirds, the under-five mortality rate.

PROGRESS SO FAR

Deaths among children under 5 years of age have been reduced.Lack of progress in reducing deaths during the first month after birth.

GOAL 5. IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH

Target 5.A: Reduce maternal mortality ratio

Reduce by three quarters, the maternal mortality ratio.

Target 5.B: Reproductive health

Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

PROGRESS SO FAR

Reproductive health services remains poor.Skilled health workers increased but little progress in reducing maternal deaths.Adolescent pregnancy rates have declined but highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.Unsafe abortions continue to account for 1 out of 8 maternal deaths.

GOAL 6. COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES

Target 6.A: Halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS Target 6.B : Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it.

Target 6.C: Reverse the incidence of Malaria & other diseases.

PROGRESS SO FAR

Antiretroviral therapy for HIV increased.Access to services are most pressing in Sub-Saharan Africa where prevalence of HIV is highest.Burden of tuberculosis remains high.Progress in increasing malaria control interventions.

GOAL 7. ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Targets 7.A & 7.B: Sustainable development

7.A Reverse the loss of environmental resources.

7.B Reduce biodiversity loss.

PROGRESS SO FARLimited progress on environmental sustainability.Rate of growth of CO2 emission is higher.Net deforestation rate has decreased.The rate of bio diversity loss has increased.

GOAL 8. DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT

Goal 8 contains a number of specific commitments on increasing aid, market access for the poorest countries, debt relief, access to essential drugs, technology transfers, and taking particular account of the needs of small island States and landlocked countries.

EMERGING ISSUES & CHALLENGES

Climate changesCurrent CrisisHumanitarian crisis.Addressing the special needs of most vulnerable

STATEMENTS

1. ACCORDING TO THE WORLD BANK’S MUCH CITED “DOLLAR A DAY” INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINE, REVISED IN 2008 TO $1.25 A DAY.

In many countries $1.25 a day may not be enough for the poor to be able to afford basic goods for survival. Furthermore, poverty involves more than just a lack of income or a daily struggle for basic sustenance. The international community has regularly affirmed that poverty is not confined only to economic deprivation but extends to social, cultural and political deprivation as well.

Primer HR-MDGs

 www.unsgab.org/docs/mdgs/mdgs-ref02.pdf

3. REDRESSING GENDER INEQUALITY REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT GOALS ALMOST

EVERYWHERE.

UNICEF identifies a number of key actions for achieving gender equality in education, “abolishing school fees, encouraging parents and communities to invest in girls’ education, and creating girl-friendly schools that are safe and without bias. School curricula must also impress upon teachers and students the importance of gender equality, and address male bias in the classroom. One way to help eliminate bias is to increase the number of female teachers in the classroom.” 

Claiming the Millennium Development Goals:A human rights approach

www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Claiming_MDGs_en.pdf

EVALUATION

MDGs are an important step for human development but the progress so far shows that there is not remarkable success in achieving these goals because of lack of resources, International co-operation & reliability of data.

Redressing with gender inequality one of the most difficult goals to achieve because of societal attitudes, norms & power structures. It has been reported through variety of media that alliances are formed with like-minded stake holders & key national institutions to show false data.

Poverty is not simply a lack of material goods and opportunities such as employment, ownership of productive assets and savings. It is also the lack of physical and social goods, such as health, physical integrity, freedom from fear and violence, social belonging, cultural identity, organizational capacity, the ability to exert political influence, and the ability to live in respect and dignity.