MDGs - Where are we at ?
Ideological concerns set apart, the question is whether the MDG framework actually delivers tangible development: are poverty, hunger, thirst, illiteracy, disease, environmental degradation increasing or decreasing in the world?
There are five years to go to the 2015 “deadline”. Will the goals be met? Let us consider how UN statisticians and experts themselves answer the question. In the recognition of the UN Secretariat, “the prospect of falling short of the Goals … is very real” (1, 4). If the MDGs provide a “historic framework for focus and accountability”, this “fabric of accountability… is being tested.” (1, 6)
In view of the 20-22 September 2010 Summit in New-York, Ban Ki-moon issued a report, “Keeping the Promise”, supposed to serve as the basis for Member States’ deliberations on an action-oriented outcome document. The report identifies “successes and gaps”, and lays out an agenda for 2010-2015.
According to the report:
- Progress on poverty reduction has been uneven and is now threatened
- Hunger is increasing and remains important global challenge
- Full and decent employment for all remains unfulfilled
- Progress on universal access to education but the goal remains unmet
- Insufficient progress on gender equality
- Significant progress on some health-related MDGs
- Least progress in reducing maternal mortality
- Limited progress on environmental sustainability
The Secretary General highlights the need to “dramatically increase the pace of change on the ground” (1, 59). Why does the UN Secretariat consider that “achieving the MDGs” needs “accelerated interventions in key areas” (1, 86)? Let us take a look at some of the findings of UN statisticians:
1. “The number of people living in extreme poverty actually went up between 1990 and 2005 by about 36 million. In Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, poverty and hunger remain stubbornly high. The number of ‘$1/day poor’ went up by 92 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and by 8 million in West Asia during 1990-2005”. (1, 11)
2. “Despite earlier progress, the number of hungry has been rising since 1995 while the proportion of the hungry in the global population has been rising since 2004-2006. There are still over a billion hungry people and more than 2 billion deficient in micronutrients… The number of hungry people globally rose from 842 million in 1990-92 to 873 million in 2004-06 and 1.02 billion people during 2009 – the highest level ever. Most of the 20 countries without any visible progress are in Sub-Saharan Africa”. (1, 12)
3. “There has been remarkable progress towards achieving universal primary education in developing countries since 2000, with many countries having crossed the 90 per cent enrolment threshold”. (1, 15) “Around 126 million children are still involved in hazardous work, while more than 72 million children of primary school age around the world – about half in Sub-Saharan Africa – remain out of school”. (1, 16)
4. “Redressing gender inequality remains one of the most difficult goals almost everywhere with cross-cutting implications. The root cause of gender disadvantage and oppression lies in societal attitudes and norms, as well as power structures… Women’s share of national parliamentary seats has only increased slowly, averaging 18 per cent as of January 2009”. (1, 18)
5. “The child mortality rate in developing countries fell from 99 deaths per thousand live births in 1990 to 72 in 2008. This is well short of the target of two-thirds reduction (to 33 per thousand live births)” (1, 24)
6. “Access to reproductive health services remains poor where women’s health risks are greatest… Maternal mortality only declined marginally from 480 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 450 in 2005” (1, 30). “Unsafe abortions continued to account for one of eight maternal deaths in 2005 despite contraceptive use among married women and those in unions. Nevertheless, 11 per cent of women in developing countries (including 24 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa) wanting to delay or stop childbearing are not using contraception” (1, 32).
7. “Some progress has been achieved towards halving the proportion of people without access to clean water. But the proportion without improved sanitation decreased by only 8 percentage points between 1990 and 2006” (1, 33). “Worldwide, around 7 million hectares of forest cover is lost every year” (1, 34). “The target to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met” (1, 35).
To conclude: UN statistics reveal that in most areas the world community is far from reaching the MDG “targets”. This puts the efficiency of the MDG framework into question. But the UN does not challenge the framework itself. Instead, it blames the “lack of commitment” of governments, as well as emerging issues and challenges such as climate change and the finance, economy and food security crisis. The solution proposed by the UN is more commitment to the framework. In fact it “calls for a new pact toward the acceleration of MDG progress in the coming years among all stakeholders” (1,1), “including national governments, donor and other supportive governments, the business community and civil society at large” (1, 7). “All stakeholders” are supposed to continue thinking and operating inside the MDG box, even if it has proven its incapacity to deliver real, integral human development.
© Marguerite A. Peeters 2010 – Permission needed for any public or semi-public use of this module.
Source:
(1) Ban Ki-moon. Keeping the Promise. A forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda to achieve the MDGs by 2015. A/64/665. 2010.