4.1.Background
In September 2000, Heads of State and Government gathered at the Headquarters in New York to adopt the Millennium Declaration. The world leaders committed themselves to a “collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level” (United Nations Millennium Declaration, 2000). In order to actualize these principles, the Millennium Declaration envisioned a world governed by fundamental and universal core values (see box 1).
• Freedom: Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence, oppression or injustice.
Democratic and participatory governance based on the will of the people best assures these rights.
• Equality: No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit from development. The equal rights and opportunities of women and men must be assured.
• Solidarity: Global challenges must be managed in a way that distributes the costs and burdens fairly in accordance with basic principles of equity and social justice.
Those who suffer or benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most.
• Tolerance: Human beings must respect one another, in all their diversity of belief, culture and language. Differences within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed, but cherished as a precious asset of humanity. A culture of peace and dialogue among all civilizations should be actively promoted.
• Respect for nature: Prudence must be shown in the management of all living species and natural resources, in accordance with the precepts of sustainable development. Only in this way can the immeasurable riches provided to us by nature be preserved and passed on to our descendants. The current unsustainable patterns of production and consumption must be changed in the interest of our future welfare and that of our descendants.
• Shared responsibility: Responsibility for managing worldwide economic and social development, as well as threats to international peace and security, must be shared among the nations of the world and should be exercised multilaterally. As the most universal and representative organization in the world, the United Nations must play the central role.
Source: UN Millennium Declaration, 2000
Box 1: Core values of the United Nations Millennium Declaration
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Specific objectives in the Millennium Declaration are cardinal to the practical operationalization of these values and recognize that poverty occurs within a national and global context. Often, it is the combination of national and global factors that engender underdevelopment and poverty. Therefore, national and international commitment is a necessary condition for achieving development and eradicating extreme poverty.
To this effect, the Millennium Declaration commits world leaders to, “create an environment - at national and global levels alike - which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty” (United Nations Millennium Declaration, 2000). The Millennium Declaration also enshrines specific numerical and time-bound targets towards achieving development and poverty reduction and act as a means to monitor and compare progress in their implementation.
The MDGs and their respective targets and indicators, as shown in box 2, include:
• To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and, by the same date, to halve the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water;
• To ensure that by the same date, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education;
• By the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and under-five child mortality by two thirds, of their current rates;
• To have, by then, halted, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/
AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major diseases that afflict humanity; and
• To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable.
Box 2: MDGs: Targets and indicators
Goals and Targets Indicators for monitoring progress 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
1. Proportion of population below $1 per day 2. Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
3. Share of poorest quintile in national consumption Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and
2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
4. Prevalence of underweight children (under-five years of age)
5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Target : Ensure that, by 2015,
children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
6. Net enrolment ratio in primary education 7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5
8. Literacy rate of 15-24 year olds Goal : Promote gender equality and empower women
Target : Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015
9. Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
10. Ratio of literate females to males of 15-24 year olds
11. Share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector
12. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
Goal : Reduce child mortality Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
13. Under-five mortality rate 14. Infant mortality rate
15. Proportion of 1 year old children immunised against measles
Goal 5: Improve maternal health Target : Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
16. Maternal mortality ratio
17. Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
Goal : Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Target : Have halted by 2015, and
begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS
18. HIV prevalence among 15-24 year old pregnant women
19. Contraceptive prevalence rate
20. Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS Target : Have halted by 2015, and
begun to reverse, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
21. Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
22. Proportion of population in malaria risk areas using effective malaria prevention and treatment measures
23. Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
24. Proportion of TB cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Course)
Goals and Targets Indicators for monitoring progress Goal : Ensure environmental sustainability*
Target : Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of
environmental resources
25. Proportion of land area covered by forest 26. Land area protected to maintain biological diversity
27. GDP per unit of energy use (as proxy for energy efficiency)
28. Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita) [Plus two figures of global atmospheric pollution:
ozone depletion and the accumulation of global warming gases]
Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
29. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source
Target 11: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
30. Proportion of people with access to improved sanitation
31. Proportion of people with access to secure tenure [Urban/rural disaggregation of several of the above indicators may be relevant for monitoring improvement in the lives of slum dwellers]
Goal : Develop a Global Partnership for Development*
Target 12: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction – both nationally and internationally
Target 1: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries
Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction
Target 1: Address the Special Needs of landlocked countries and small island developing states (through Barbados Programme and 22nd General Assembly provisions) Target 15: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
Some of the indicators listed below will be monitored separately for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Africa, landlocked countries and small island developing states.
Official Development Assistance
32. Net ODA as percentage of DAC donors’ GNI [targets of 0.7% in total and 0.15% for LDCs]
33. Proportion of ODA to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)
34. Proportion of ODA that is untied
35. Proportion of ODA for environment in small island developing states
36. Proportion of ODA for transport sector in land-locked countries
Market Access
37. Proportion of exports (by value and excluding arms) admitted free of duties and quotas 38. Average tariffs and quotas on agricultural products and textiles and clothing
39. Domestic and export agricultural subsidies in OECD countries
40. Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity
Debt Sustainability
41. Proportion of official bilateral HIPC debt cancelled 42. Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services
43. Proportion of ODA provided as debt relief 44. Number of countries reaching HIPC decision and completion points
Goals and Targets Indicators for monitoring progress Target 1: In cooperation with
developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth
45. Unemployment rate of 15-24 year olds
Target 1: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries
46. Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis
Target 1: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
47. Telephone lines per 1000 people 48. Personal computers per 1000 people
Source: HDR, 2004
On 27th August 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) presented a worldwide progress report on implementation of the MDGs. The UNSG’s report underscores two fundamental lessons from the global experience of implementing the MDGs. These lessons are: (a) achieving the MDGs is difficult but not impossible and, (b) the commitment of governments, individually and collectively, is critical to achieving the MDGs.
The report also shows that there has been progress and setbacks in the implementation of MDGs. While some regions have made progress, others have faltered and even regressed from meeting the MDGs.
In terms of poverty and hunger, Asia (Eastern, South-eastern, Southern) and North Africa are on track to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.
SSA on the other hand, has experienced little or no change in the poverty conditions of its population. In 2001, almost half of the population of SSA lived on less than $1 a day, the same proportion as in 1990. Similarly, in terms of hunger, the proportion of people that are suffering from hunger has not declined and food production in SSA has barely kept pace with population growth since 1980.
For universal primary education, all developing countries have registered some progress in net primary enrolment from 1990/1991 to 2000/2001. However, 121million children, the majority of them in SSA, are still out of school. With current trends therefore, SSA is unlikely to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015.
Most subregions except SSA and Southern and Western Asia have made progress towards achieving gender equality. The target of achieving parity between boys and girls in primary and secondary school is being met. However, other indicators such as women’s wage employment rates and representation in national Parliaments have not changed significantly.
With regard to reducing child mortality, Northern Africa, Latin America, South-Eastern Asia and the Caribbean have recorded progress. However, progress in reducing child mortality has been negligible in SSA, Western Asia and Oceania.
SSA has the highest under-five mortality rates currently estimated at 174 deaths per 1000 live births. This mortality rate is as high as 20 times that in developed countries.
SSA and Southern Asia continue to have the highest rates of maternal deaths.
In 2000, out of an estimated 529 000 maternal deaths in the world, 445 000 occurred in SSA and Southern Asia. It is currently estimated that in SSA, there are 920 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births. The proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel also remains low in SSA compared to other subregions.
Globally, the number of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) increased from 35 million in 2001 to 38 million in 2003, and SSA remains the most affected region in the world. In 2003, it was reported that out of 2.9 million AIDS related deaths of which 2.2 million were in SSA. Additionally, it was reported that in the same year up to as many as 24 per cent - 39 per cent of pregnant women in urban Southern Africa aged between 14-24 years were infected with the virus.
In terms of achieving global environmental sustainability, whilst access to safe drinking water has improved in all regions, it has declined in SSA. Energy use and per capita carbon dioxide emissions have increased in developing countries as a whole, and the surface area of tropical forests are decreasing despite an increase in protected areas. At the international level, there has been progress towards several conventions such as the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
In relation to MDG 8, that is, developing a global partnership for development, according to the UNSG’s MDG implementation report, there has been some progress in both the quantity and quality of ODA flows to least developed countries as a whole. In 2001/2002, 43 percent of ODA flows directly addressed MDGs activities. As of April 2004, 13 out of 37 countries classified eligible for the HIPC initiative, had reached their completion points, therebyqualifying
for substantial external debt relief. However, declining terms of trade (TOT) for non-oil commodities, protective barriers in OECD countries and the stalled Doha round of trade talks continue to present obstacles towards achieving the MDGs in least developed countries.
With regard to the African continent in particular, the majority of countries in SSA are unlikely to meet the MDGs targets and SSA is home to 21 ‘top priority countries” where failed progress is combined with brutally low starting levels in human development. The daunting development challenge in SSA calls for special attention from the international community if the subregion is to meet the MDG targets by 2015. Most SSA countries have not achieved the necessary 7 per cent growth required to cause significant impact on poverty reduction (ECA 1999). Recognizing low economic growth and the scarce domestic resource constraints of the subregion, it has been necessary to adopt a wider array of policy options that will enable the subregion to achieve the MDGs.
Clearly, many challenges still lie in the way of achieving the MDGs globally and especially in SSA. The insufficient progress towards the attainment of the MDGs in SSA can be attributed to a combination of factors. Inadequate domestic and external resources, inefficient spending, and insufficient political commitment are all important but all revolve around low economic growth on the continent. As mentioned earlier, most SSA countries have not achieved the 7 per cent growth required to cause a significant impact on poverty reduction as enshrined in MDG 1 and this remains a major constraint to income poverty reduction as well as achieving the other MDGs. Africa remains one of the continents with the highest concentration of poor people in the world and if current trends persist, halving poverty in Africa will not be achieved until the year 2147 (UNDP 2003).
Recognizing the special needs of Africa for poverty reduction and accelerated human development, the Millennium Declaration called on United Nations members States to, inter alia, support the consolidation of democracy in Africa and assist African countries in their struggle for lasting peace, poverty eradication and sustainable development; to take special measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, including debt cancellation, improved market access, enhanced ODA) and increased flows of FDI and technology transfer. of; help Africa build its capacity to tackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases; to encourage and sustain regional and subregional mechanisms for preventing conflict and promoting political stability, and to ensure a reliable flow of resources for peacekeeping operations on the continent.
The elevation of commitments is a crucial step forward for the attainment of the MDGs because it indicates the seriousness of the global poverty problem and the need to eradicate it. In Africa, the MDGs find expression in the strategic plan of the African Union (AU) Commission, which was published in May 2004 and submitted to the policy organs of the AU in July 2004. This plan states that it is necessary for Africa to become more competitive in the global economy if the continent is to attain the social and economic objectives defined by the MDGs. This recognition and the commitment of the international community to the special development needs of Africa coupled with Africa’s own development initiatives has raised expectations that the MDG’s can be achieved on the continent by the target date no matter how far off the track many African countries may be to date. What is required is to muster the necessary political will to back commitments with concrete action to fast track the realisation of the goals.