Millennium Development Goals

What are the Millennium Development Goals?

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by the 192 UN member states. The targets are intended to increase efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest – reducing global poverty and increasing living standards. The goals were officially agreed upon at the 2000 Millennium Summit when world leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration.


The Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
a. Halve the proportion of people living on less than one U.S. dollar a day and suffering from hunger.

2. Achieve universal primary education
a. Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
b. Ensure that children remain in school and review a quality education.

3. Promote gender equality and empower women
a. Close the gender gap in primary and secondary education.

4. Reduce child mortality
a. Reduce the mortality rate of children under five by two thirds.

5. Improve maternal health
a. Reduce maternal mortality ration by three quarters.
b. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
c. Reverse the spread and incidence of major diseases.

6. Ensure environmental sustainability
a. Integrate sustainable development policies and programmes into national policies.
b. Reverse the loss of natural resources.
c. Increase access to potable water.

7. Develop a global partnership for development
a. Further the development of an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory. This includes a dedication to ‘good governance’, development and poverty reduction on national and international levels.
b. Address the special needs of least developed countries. This includes tariff and quota-free access for their exports, increased debt relief, and official development assistance.
c. Develop decent and productive work for youth.
d. Provide affordable access to essential drugs in developing countries.

Controversies

While most agree that MDGs are indeed worthy targets, there is less agreement on whether or not these goals are actually achievable. As 2007 marks the halfway point of the 2015 deadline, many worry that the slow progress so far will fall short of the 2015 deadline, resulting in yet more ‘broken promises’ to developing countries. This, in turn, may have far-reaching, negative political impacts.

The 2007 Millennium Development Goals Report, argues that the goals are still feasible and reachable by 2015 and points to a significant reduction in global poverty and increased education, although it does acknowledge that progress in many target areas has been slow and uneven, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where poverty, maternal mortality, infant mortality, lack of primary education, and major diseases remain most severe.

Another area of controversy is directed at developed countries who have been accused of failing to seriously implement policies aimed towards MDGs. The Netherlands ranks first on the 2007 Commitment to Development Index, followed by Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, while the UK comes in 9th and the United States at 14th. The UK ranks high in the areas of foreign investment and environment, and ranks low in migration. However, the UK and US rank higher on a ‘most improved’ index.

The impact of foreign aid on developing countries is another hotly debated subject in the context of development, with many scholars and politicians questioning its benefits. Some argue that it does more harm than good, while others say that it can be a necessary evil in certain cases.

Statistics

Worldwide, the number of people in developing countries living on less than $1 a day fell to 980 million in 2004 – down from 1.25 billion in 1990 (Millennium Development Goals Report 2007).

The proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from nearly a third to 19 per cent from 1990 to 2004 (Millennium Development Goals Report 2007).

Poverty rates in Western Asia more than doubled between 1990 and 2005 (Millennium Development Goals Report 2007).

In 2003/04 DFID committed £903 million to eliminate income poverty and hunger (UK Department for International Development 2007).

African economies must grow at about 7% per year over 2000-2015 in order to halve the number ofpeople living below the poverty line. Just seven out of 153 countries for which we have data accomplished this feat in the preceding 15 years (Center for Global Development 2007).

Since 1990, female participation in national parliaments has slowly increased, but women still only occupy 16% of seats worldwide (BBC 2007).

Each year, more than 500,000 women die from treatable or preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s risk of dying from such complications over the course of her lifetime is 1 in 16, compared to 1 in 3,800 in the developed world (Millennium Development Goals Report 2007).

Quotes

“The vast majority of developing countries will miss most of the MDG targets in 2015. Nearly all African countries will miss most of them. But this will not be a sign that poor countries have failed, or that aid has been a waste. Nor will it primarily be because donors did not spend the right amount of money. At the same time, many of the world’s poorest countries will in all likelihood make great progress in improving the quality of life of their people—and aid will almost certainly have played a part. It would be a shame if the MDGs, in trying to make the case that the world can and should help the world’s poor, wound up undermining the cause by over-reaching on the targets and over-selling on the efficacy of aid.”

Michael Clemens and Todd Moss, ‘What’s Wrong with the Millennium Development Goals?’

"The MDGs are still achievable if we act now… We will have time to reach the Millennium Development Goals – worldwide and in most, or even all, individual countries – but only if we break with business as usual. We cannot win overnight. Success will require sustained action across the entire decade between now and the deadline. It takes time to train the teachers, nurses and engineers; to build the roads, schools and hospitals; to grow the small and large businesses able to create the jobs and income needed. So we must start now. And we must more than double global development assistance over the next few years. Nothing less will help to achieve the Goals."

United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

“…support for democratic institutions and economic freedom as determinants of growth… explain the occasions under which poor countries grow more slowly than rich countries.”

William Easterly

Links

Center for Global Development – Millennium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goals Report 2007

Millennium Development Goals Indicators

The 2007 Commitment to Development Index: Components and Results

UK Department for International Development