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ROUNDUP 98 NOVEMBER 2002
MDGs:
Moving Forward on the Millennium Development Goals
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The Millennium Development
Goals, over a relatively short period of time,
have gained tremendous currency, primarily in development circles but increasingly in related trade and
finance circles. Many actors are now counting on the goals, commonly referred to as the “MDGs,” to galvanize
disparate and sometimes competing development agendas and are imagining how they might become a powerful
political tool to hold governments and international institutions accountable.
During the Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000, all 189 UN Member States adopted the
Millennium Declaration, which contained a group of goals and targets, some of which were later refined
through the Roadmap towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration: Report of the
Secretary General to the General Assembly (A/56/326, September 2001), and have since become known as the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). These eight goals are essentially centred on national targets for
poverty, education, gender equality, and environmental sustainability, but also include targets for
establishing an international trade and finance policy framework that favours development. Numerical targets
have been set for each goal, most of which are to be achieved by 2015. Over the last two years, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has taken a lead in building up political support
for the MDGs. This support was evident during the International Conference on Financing for Development
(FFD,
see NGLS Roundup 91) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD, see NGLS Roundup 96), in which
the international financial institutions (IFIs), World Trade Organization
(WTO), UN agencies and scores of
governments highlighted their importance. While some civil society organizations (CSOs) were initially more
circumspect with regard to the MDGs as a concept, they too have entered the debate and are beginning to
explore if and how the MDGs might fit programmatically into national and international strategies.
Headed up by UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, Chair of the UN Development
Group (UNDG) and overall head of the MDG campaign, the UN system is coordinating the three pillars supporting
achievement of the MDGs: reporting (Millennium Reports); campaigning efforts (Millennium Campaign); and
research (Millennium Project). The UN is quick to point out, however, that it is not the UN that must achieve
the goals but rather societies, governments and institutions pulling together in the same direction. This
Roundup documents the current terrain of initiatives being developed by the various actors and some of the
issues that are being raised by this growing body of activity.
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Up until now, the MDGs have largely been utilized as a tool at the global level
to deepen a discourse about mutual accountability and to secure the political “buy-in” of governments and
relevant development actors to an “agreed” and concise agenda. However, the bulk of the work around the MDGs
is actually taking place at the country level with activities including civil society dialogues, local
campaigns and the production of MDG country progress reports, known as Millennium Reports
(MDGRs) . |
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| Millennium Development Goals and Targets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Goal 1 Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Target 1 Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day Target 2 Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger Goal 2 Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4 Reduce child mortality
Goal 5 Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases
Goal 7 Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8 Develop a global partnership for development Target 18 In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
Source: Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration,
(A/56/326) Country Reports As countries have been encouraged to adapt the MDGs to their national
context and priorities, not all countries are focusing on all eight goals, or the same ones. Some countries
are choosing to turn individual targets into goals. For example, the report on Viet Nam focuses on targets
around hunger and malnutrition, and access to basic household amenities as independent goals, while choosing
not to examine goal 8—developing a global partnership for development. Similarly, the report on Poland does
not examine goal 8, and adds a focus area on “Achieving a stable and viable democratic system, which is
supported by majority of the population.” Bolivia, on the other hand, explores each of the eight main goals,
as does Mauritius.
It is expected that every developing and transition economy country will produce at least one MDGR by the end
of 2004. It is not yet clear what the reporting exercise will be for developed countries.
All MDGR country reports can be found online (www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.html), as well as the analysis
of the indicators outlined in the Road Map (http://millenniumindicators.un.org).
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| Schedule of Millennium Reporting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| UN Launches Millennium Campaign | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The UN launched its Millennium Development Goals Campaign on 1 October 2002 with
UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown calling for “aggressive promotion” of the MDGs in order to align the
UN system, governments, parliaments, trade unions, church networks and other civil society actors behind
efforts to achieve the goals. “We are going to take the best elements of successful campaigns like the land
mines campaign and debt campaign,” Mr. Malloch Brown said, “and build coalitions at the country and global
levels who will fight, organize, demonstrate and write to Congressmen and Members of Parliament to take
whatever action is required to meet the goals.”
Mr. Malloch Brown envisaged that the annual country reporting exercise would serve as the foundation for a
decentralized, nationally focused campaign by unleashing political momentum within countries. “When people
everywhere can see how their country is doing compared to next door, they will demand of their government
more access to education and better healthcare.” He went on to say that the annual reports build evidence for
people to take political change into their own hands. In developed countries this would mean ensuring that
resources are made available through official development assistance (ODA) commitments, trade access and other
policy reforms in the global political economy. For developing countries, this should translate into
prioritizing social expenditures on education and health care strategies. UN Appoints Campaign Executive Coordinator It is expected that part of Ms. Herfken's job will be to liaise with Northern capitals and
build support for MDG-related work and to work closely with Mark Malloch Brown. She has said that she will also use her
position to continue pressing for greater coherence among trade, development and finance ministries within industrialized
countries, as well as to support greater cooperation amongst the UN, BWIs and WTO. In a recent panel on Globalization and the
MDGs (see Go Between 94), Ms. Herfkens said that the MDGs might also help address what she called the “compliance deficit,”
or the gap between what developing countries must achieve in order to demonstrate commitment and the corresponding effort of
developed countries. She said a good example of this was at WTO negotiations where developing countries are being forced to
open their economies while industrialized countries still lag behind on their own trade reforms. “Perhaps we could hold up
agreements at the WTO against achievement of the MDGs?” she asked. Millennium Declaration Implementation Report
The report, which looks at progress on implementation of the declaration in its totality, examines both the measurable MDGs as
well as broader objectives like human rights and democracy.
On meeting the MDGs, the report states that given current trends, prospects are decidedly mixed with marked differences
between and within regions. It says that progress in East Asia and parts of South Asia has been sufficient in recent years
“to give hope”—if it can continue to be made—of broad success in meeting many or all of the goals. However, progress in Latin
America is slow, while much of sub-Saharan Africa and large parts of Central Asia are hardly advancing at all—or even worse,
are falling back dramatically. The report warns that global figures can obscure vast and troubling regional variations and
gives the example of the drop in the global rate of extreme income poverty that has declined largely as a result of
significant progress in East Asia and the Pacific.
In the area of universal primary education, the report says that almost all regions have made progress, but that rates of
improvement are much too slow in many regions to reach the target by 2015. This is particularly true of sub-Saharan Africa.
The Secretary-General has said that the first major test on implementation will come in 2005, by when parity should be reached
on boys' and girls' primary and secondary enrollment rates. At the current rate the target is unlikely to be reached, he has
warned, as rates in disparity have only dropped 25% over the last decade. The report concludes that overall progress in implementing the declaration and achieving the MDGs hinges on creating positive
mutually reinforcing successes in individual areas, and draws connections between conflict prevention, the spread of
infectious disease, poverty rates and creating sustainable prosperity, saying that the right mix of national and international
policies is critical in this respect.
The report points to the recent International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, as well as the Doha Ministerial of the World Trade Organization as indications that the international environment
may now be more receptive to such development efforts. It challenges the private sector, NGOs, philanthropic foundations,
academic and cultural institutions and other parts of civil society to forge a coordinated strategy with Member States,
international institutions and UN agencies
to help move towards greater implementation. The report can be found online
(www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.html). |
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| Millennium Research Project | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The third pillar of the MDGs strategy revolves around the Millennium Project,
a three-year initiative to mobilize networks of scholars from developing and developed countries to help
identify the necessary conditions—in terms of the right mix of policies, operational priorities,
organizational means of implementation, and financing structures—for countries to achieve the MDGs.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on MDGs and Director of the Earth Institute,
Columbia University, will direct the project and oversee the participation of
UN agencies, academics,
representatives of government, civil society and private sector institutions. As an advisory body to the UN, the Millennium Project will report its findings directly to the UN
Secretary-General and the Administrator of UNDP. The Project itself has two key advisory groups: the UN
Experts Group that oversees UN participation in the Project, consisting of senior representatives from UN
agencies; and an International Advisory Panel that brings together internationally recognized experts in the
relevant fields to provide independent advice to the Millennium Project. The bulk of the research will be conducted through ten thematic task forces each looking at a specific group of targets. It is expected that the Project will complete a series of background papers outlining the planned research work of each task force by the end of 2002 and present its first body of data and recommendations via the Human Development Report, due in mid-2003. By the middle of the following year, the Project will offer an interim report to the Secretary-General and the UNDP Administrator, and will present final recommendations by 30 June 2005.
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| Millennium Project Task Forces and Focus Targets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Millennium Tools, Research, and Experiences | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Given the short life to date of the MDGs as a concept, there is an impressive range of initiatives and resources that have been developed at the national and global levels by the UN system, governments and civil society. The next page provides a listing of some of the best sources of information and resources currently available. DEV LINK
MDG NET
MILLENNIUM PROJECT
OFFICIAL UN WEBSITE
MILLENNIUM INDICATORS
OFFICIAL UNDP WEBSITE
OTHER UN SYSTEM AGENCY MDG SITES INCLUDE:
World Health Organization (WHO) (www.who.int/
mdg/en/)
WORLD BANK MDG WEBSITE
More websites are in development.
Civil Society Links
CHOIKE (www.choike.org)
CONGO
EURODAD WEBSITE (www.eurodad.org)
INTERACTION WEBSITE (www.interaction.org)
WFUNA WEBSITE (www.wfuna.org) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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