The United Nations Millennium Development goals are taking a U-turn according to Medical Emergency Relief International. Yesterday, the leaders of the world met at the UN General Assembly to discuss promises made all those years ago.
In 200o, the heads of state promised to halve poverty by 2015, achieve six other quantifiable goals for reducing deprivation, two more general goals and one more multi-dimensional goal between developing and developed countries…also by 2015.
Here are the goals:
1.Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
2.Achieve universal primary education
3.Promote gender equality & empower women
4.Reduce child mortality
5.Improve maternal health
6.Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseases
7.Ensure environmental sustainablity
8.Develop a global partnership for development
So where are we with the first one? 100,000 million more people now face extreme poverty. Food riots are common throughout the world and for the first time, industrialized rich nations are feeling the squeeze.
In 1996, the Human Development Report came out with a series of predictions of why noble ideas like MDGs are likely to fail. It writes the failure to achieve goals over a sustained human development hangs on:
– economic constraints or lack of political support within countries
– the total disruptions from civil and political conflict
– failures of international support for the goals
– world recession and wider difficulties and setbacks in the international economic environment.
This last one seems particularly relevant. A $700 billion bail-out of Wall Street and all the economic crises involved has cast a long shadow over the world's most desperate. Ministers are doubting the MDGs will ever be met given the state of the global economy.
Even the very first goal of halving the poverty seemed dubious because of poor economic and unsustainable development practices. Both the IMF and World Bank are notorious for focusing on the end result of their imposed economic packages without considering the social impact and widespread consequences.
It is difficult to pinpoint any developing country that followed IMF and World Bank structural adjustment plans and came out on top. And indeed, floods, droughts, and fluctuating prices of basic commodities and fuel also affect these goals.
Perhaps a better resort for the MDGs is not to make them absolute. Instead, emphasis on the partial success of goals may be more pragmatic and achievable. Making them relative as well would also be fairer. In other words show the acceleration towards these goals over past trends. (For more reading on this please refer to the Human Development Report 2003 by Richard Jolly.)
