The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development – the development of greater quality of life for humans, . It therefore encompasses foreign aid, governance, healthcare, education, gender equality, goals that all 192 United Nations The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of member states There are currently 192 United Nations member states, and each of them is a member of the United Nations General Assembly and at least 23 international organizations An international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope, or presence. There are two main types: have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing extreme poverty Extreme poverty is the most severe state of poverty. Many cannot meet basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, and health care. To determine the affected population, the World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than USD $1.25 per day . The World Bank estimates that 1.4 billion people currently live under these conditions, reducing child mortality About 10 million children die every year, very often from preventable causes. Estimates vary depending on the age limit definition of still being a child. Child mortality in this article refers to under-5 mortality, which is the death of infants and children under the age of five. In 2008, 8.8 million children under five died, down from 9.2 rates, fighting disease epidemics In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is "expected," based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during a specified period of time is called the "incidence rate"). (An epizootic is the such as AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is transmitted through direct, and developing a global partnership for development.[1]

Contents

Background

Heads of State at the Millennium Summit

In 2001, recognizing the need to assist impoverished nations more aggressively, UN member states adopted the targets. The MDGs aim to spur development by improving social and economic conditions in the world's poorest countries.

They derive from earlier international development targets[2], and were officially established at the Millennium Summit The Millennium Summit was a meeting among many world leaders lasting three days from 6 September to 8 September 2000 at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Its purpose was to discuss the role of the United Nations at the turn of the twenty-first century. At this meeting, world leaders ratified the United Nations Millennium in 2000, where all world leaders present adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration On 8 September 2000, following a three day Millennium Summit of world leaders at the headquarters of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration, from which the eight goals were promoted.

Goals

The percentage of the world's population living in extreme poverty Extreme poverty is the most severe state of poverty. Many cannot meet basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, and health care. To determine the affected population, the World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than USD $1.25 per day . The World Bank estimates that 1.4 billion people currently live under these conditions has halved since 1981. The graph shows estimates and projections from the World Bank 1981–2009. Most of this improvement has occurred in East and South Asia.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were developed out of the eight chapters of the United Nations Millennium Declaration On 8 September 2000, following a three day Millennium Summit of world leaders at the headquarters of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000. There are eight goals with 21 targets,[3] and a series of measurable indicators for each target.[4][5]

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution. Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or country, or compared and hunger There were 923 million malnourished people in the world in 2007, an increase of 80 million since 1990. The FAO purports that the world already produces enough food to feed everyone — 6 billion people — and could feed double — 12 billion people

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

Indicators

Some of the indicators listed below are monitored separately for the least developed countries (LDCs), Africa, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.

Progress

Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven. Some countries have achieved many of the goals,[14] while others are not on track to realize any.[15] The major countries that have been achieving their goals include China (whose poverty population has reduced from 452 million to 278 million) and India due to clear internal and external factors of population and economic development.[16] However, areas needing the most reduction, such as the Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara. It contrasts with North Africa, which is considered a part of the Arab world regions have yet to make any drastic changes in improving their quality of life. In the same time as China, the Sub-Saharan Africa reduced their poverty about one percent, and are at a major risk of not meeting the MDGs by 2015.[16] Fundamental issues will determine whether or not the MDGs are achieved, namely gender, the divide between the humanitarian and development agendas and economic growth Economic growth is a term used to indicate the increase of per capita gross domestic product or other measure of aggregate income. It is often measured as the rate of change in GDP. Economic growth refers only to the quantity of goods and services produced, according to the Overseas Development Institute The Overseas Development Institute is one of the leading independent think tanks on international development and humanitarian issues. Based in London, its mission is "to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing.[17]

To accelerate progress towards the MDGs, the G-8 Finance Ministers met in London London is a leading global city being the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media, in June 2005 (in preparation for the G-8 Gleneagles Summit The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, in Scotland and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The locations of previous G8 summits to have been hosted by the United Kingdom include: London ; and Birmingham (1998) in July) and reached an agreement to provide enough funds to the World Bank The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that makes leveraged loans, generally to poor countries. The Bank came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements, which emerged from the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference (1–22 July 1944). It, the IMF, and the African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group is a development bank established in 1964 with the intention of promoting economic and social development in Africa. The Group comprises the African Development Bank , the African Development Fund (ADF), and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). AfDB provides loans and grants to African governments and private companies (ADB) to cancel an additional $40–55 billion debt owed by members of the HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries are a group of 40 developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt overhang which are eligible for special assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. This would allow impoverished countries to re-channel the resources saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty.[18]

Backed by G-8 funding, the World Bank World Bank is a term used to describe an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to developing countries for capital programs. The World Bank has a stated goal of reducing poverty, the IMF The International Monetary Fund is the intergovernmental organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the balance of payments. It is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing international exchange, and the ADB each endorsed the Gleaneagles plan and implemented the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative ("MDRI") to effectuate the debt cancellations. The MDRI supplements HIPC by providing each country that reaches the HIPC completion point 100% forgiveness of its multilateral debt. Countries that previously reached the decision point became eligible for full debt forgiveness once their lending agency confirmed that the countries had continued to maintain the reforms implemented during HIPC status. Other countries that subsequently reach the completion point automatically receive full forgiveness of their multilateral debt under MDRI.[18]

While the World Bank and ADB limit MDRI to countries that complete the HIPC program, the IMF's MDRI eligibility criteria are slightly less restrictive so as to comply with the IMF's unique "uniform treatment" requirement. Instead of limiting eligibility to HIPC countries, any country with annual per capita income of $380 or less qualifies for MDRI debt cancellation. The IMF adopted the $380 threshold because it closely approximates the countries eligible for HIPC.[18]

Yet, as we head towards 2015 increasing global uncertainties, such as the economic crisis In Marxian economics, crisis refers to what is called, even currently and outside Marxian theory in many European countries a "conjuncture" or especially sharp bust cycle of the regular boom and bust pattern of what Marxists term "chaotic" capitalist development, which will if no countervailing action is taken, mark the and climate change Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average . Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth, have led to an opportunity to rethink the MDG approach to development policy. According to the 'In Focus' Policy Brief from the Institute of Development Studies, the ‘After 2015' debate is about questioning the value of an MDG-type, target-based approach to international development, about progress so far on poverty reduction, about looking to an uncertain future and exploring what kind of system is needed after the MDG deadline has passed.[19]

The effects of increasing drug use has been noted by the International Journal of Drug Policy as a deterrent to the goal of the MDGs.[20]

Controversy Over Funding of 0.7% of GNI

Over the past 35 years, the members of the UN have repeatedly made a "commit[ment] 0.7% of rich-countries' gross national product A variety of measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate total economic activity in a country or region, including gross domestic product , gross national product (GNP), and net national income (NNI). All are specially concerned with counting the total amount of goods and services produced within some "boundary& (GNI) to Official Development Assistance Official development assistance is a statistic compiled by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to measure aid. The DAC first compiled the statistic in 1969. It is widely used by academics and journalists as a convenient indicator of international aid flow. It includes some loans."[21] The commitment was first made in 1970 by the UN General Assembly.

The text of the commitment was:

Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development assistance to the developing countries Developing country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing countries having high average standards of living and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum net amount of 0.7 percent of its gross national product at market prices by the middle of the decade.[22]

However, there has been disagreement from the US, and other nations, over the Monterrey Consensus that urged "developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts towards the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNI) as ODA to developing countries."[23][24]

Support for the 0.7% Target

The UN "believe[s] that donors should commit to reaching the long-standing target of 0.7 percent of GNI by 2015".[22]

The European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 upon the foundations of the European Communities. With over 500 million citizens, the EU combined generated an estimated 28% share (US$ 16.5 has recently reaffirmed its commitment to the 0.7% aid targets. The EU External Relations council says that, as of May 2005, "four out of the five countries, which exceed the UN target for ODA of 0.7%, of GNI are member states of the European Union."[25]

Many organizations are working to bring U.S. political attention to the Millennium Development Goals. In 2007, The Borgen Project worked with Sen. Barack Obama A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 on the Global Poverty Act, a bill requiring the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S to develop a strategy for achieving the goals. As of 2009, the bill has not passed, but Barack Obama has since been elected President.[26][27]

Challenges to the 0.7% Target

However, many OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 31 countries. It defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identifying good practices, and co-ordinating domestic nations, including key members such as the United States, are not progressing towards their promise of giving 0.7% of their GNP towards poverty reduction by the target year of 2015. Some nations' contributions have been criticized as falling far short of 0.7%.[28]

John Bolton argues that the U.S. never agreed in Monterrey to spending 0.7% of GDP on development assistance. Indeed, Washington has consistently opposed setting specific foreign-aid targets since the U.N. General Assembly first endorsed the 0.7% goal in 1970.[29]

The Australian Government has committed to providing 0.5% of GNI in International Development Assistance by 2015-2016, without noting the long-standing 0.7% goal.[30]

Challenges of the Millennium Development Goals

Although developed countries' aid for the achievement of the MDGs have been rising over the recent year, it has shown that more than half is towards debt relief owed by poor countries. As well, remaining aid money goes towards natural disaster relief and military aid which does not further the country into development. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2006), the 50 least developed countries only receive about one third of all aid that flows from developed countries, raising the issue of aid not moving from rich to poor depending on their development needs but rather from rich to their closest allies.[31]

Related Organisations

This section requires expansion.

The Micah Challenge is an international campaign that encourages Christians to support the Millennium Development Goals. Their aim is to "encourage our leaders to halve global poverty by 2015." [32]

8 Visions of Hope is a global art project that explores and shows how art, culture, artists & musicians as positive change agents can help in the realization of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^ Background page, United Nations Millennium Development Goals website, retrieved 16 June 2009.
  2. ^ About the Millennium Development Goals, OECD Development Co-operation Directorate website, retrieved 16 June 2009.
  3. ^ http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml etc.
  4. ^ MDG Monitor
  5. ^ http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/MDGsOfficialList2008.pdf - list of goals, targets, and indicators
  6. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 1
  7. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 2
  8. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 3
  9. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 4
  10. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 5
  11. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 6
  12. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 7
  13. ^ MDG Monitor:Goal 8
  14. ^ http://www.mdgmonitor.org/country_progress.cfm?c=BRA&cd=
  15. ^ http://www.mdgmonitor.org/country_progress.cfm?c=BEN&cd=
  16. ^ a b http://econ.lse.ac.uk/staff/rburgess/wp/jep11.pdf
  17. ^ "Achieving the MDGs: The fundamentals". Overseas Development Institute. September 2008. http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/odi-publications/briefing-papers/43-mdgs-fundamentals-poverty-social-protection.pdf.
  18. ^ a b c E. Carrasco, C.McClellan, & J. Ro (2007), "Foreign Debt: Forgiveness antetretetred Repudiation" University of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development E-Book
  19. ^ 'After 2015: Rethinking Pro-Poor Policy' Institute of Development Studies (IDS) In Focus Policy Brief 9.1. June 2009.
  20. ^ Singer, M. 2008. Drugs and development: The global impact of drug use and trafficking on social and economic development. International Journal of Drug Policy 19 (6):467-478.
  21. ^ http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/press/07.htm
  22. ^ a b http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/costs_benefits2.htm
  23. ^ http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/07_aconf198-11.pdf
  24. ^ http://www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/fact_sheet/ecosoc_Chapter_4_apr15.pdf
  25. ^ http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/EUExternalRelations24May.pdf
  26. ^ http://bproject.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/borgen-on-capitol-hill/
  27. ^ http://bproject.wordpress.com/2006/12/10/borgens-2006-congressional-meetings/
  28. ^ http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/endorse_TI_19Jan05.pdf
  29. ^ "Bush Balks at Pact to Fight Poverty". BusinessWeek online. September 2nd, 2005. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2005/nf2005092_5264_db039.htm.
  30. ^ http://www.ausaid.gov.au/media/release.cfm?BC=Media&ID=5854_3696_6753_7484_7221
  31. ^ Singer, M. 2008. Drugs and development: The global impact of drug use and trafficking on social and economic development. International Journal of Drug Policy 19 (6):467-478
  32. ^ http://www.micahchallenge.org.au/
  33. ^ http://www.8visionsofhope.org/

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Why does Obama want the USA to pay out trillions in tax money to reduce world poverty by 2015?
Q. Obama has sponsored a Bill called the Global Poverty Act of 2007. He wants to TAX Americans and hand the Money to the UN to distribute the funds. His goal is to cut the worlds poverty in half in the next 7 years and for the USA to pay the Bulk of it. S. 2433: Global Poverty Act of 2007 A bill to require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day. Overview SummarySpeeches Articles About This Bill… [cont.]
Asked by ZiraO' bama - Wed Aug 6 05:52:05 2008 - - 12 Answers - 0 Comments

A. I am not bothered when money is spent for a good cause. I am bothered when tons of money is spent on a "war" based on lies !
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