The United Nations Millennium Declaration of 2000 marked a strong commitment to the right to development, to peace and security, to gender equality, to the eradication of the many dimensions of poverty and to sustainable human development. Embedded in that Declaration, which was adopted by 147 heads of State and 189 states, were what have become known as the eight Millennium Development Goals, including 18 timebound targets.
They provide the best statement so far of what needs to be done. They are:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
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
Make Poverty History drives towards these through:
- Cancelling debt
- Increasing responsible aid
- Building fair trade
The UN Millennium Project identifies 10 key actions to acheive the MDGs:
Recommendation 1
Developing country governments should adopt development strategies bold enough to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for 2015.
Recommendation 2
The strategies should anchor the scaling up of public investments, capacity building, domestic resource mobilization, and official development assistance. They should also provide a framework for strengthening governance, promoting human rights, engaging civil society, and promoting the private sector.
Recommendation 3
Developing country governments should craft and implement the MDG-based poverty reduction strategies in transparent and inclusive processes, working closely with civil society organizations, the domestic private sector, and international partners.
Recommendation 4
International donors should identify at least a dozen MDG "fast-track" countries for a rapid scale-up of official development assistance (ODA) in 2005, recognizing that many countries are already in a position for a massive scale-up on the basis of their good governance and absorptive capacity.
Recommendation 5
Developed and developing countries should jointly launch, in 2005, a group of Quick Win actions to save and improve millions of lives and to promote economic growth. They should also launch a massive effort to build expertise at the community level.
The Quick Wins include but are not limited to:
* Free mass distribution of malaria bed-nets and effective antimalaria medicines for all children in regions of malaria transmission by the end of 2007.
* Ending user fees for primary schools and essential health services, compensated by increased donor aid as necessary, no later than the end of 2006.
* Successful completion of the 3 by 5 campaign to bring 3 million AIDS patients in developing countries onto antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005.
* Expansion of school meals programs to cover all children in hunger hotspots using locally produced foods by no later than the end of 2006.
* A massive replenishment of soil nutrients for smallholder farmers on lands with nutrient-depleted soils, through free or subsidized distribution of chemical fertilizers and agroforestry, by no later than the end of 2006
The massive training program of community-based workers should aim to ensure, by 2015, that each local community has:
* Expertise in health, education, agriculture, nutrition, infrastructure, water supply and sanitation, and environmental management.
* Expertise in public sector management.
* Appropriate training to promote gender equality and participation.
Recommendation 6
Developing country governments should align national strategies with such regional initiatives as the New Partnership for Africa's Development and the Caribbean Community (and Common Market), and regional groups should receive increased direct donor support for regional projects.
Recommendation 7
High-income countries should increase official development assistance (ODA) from .0.25 percent of donor GNP in 2003 to around 0.44 percent in 2006 and 0.54 percent in 2015 to support the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in low-income countries, with improved ODA quality (including aid that is harmonized, predictable, and largely in the form of grants-based budget support). Each donor should reach 0.7 percent no later than 2015 to support the Goals and other development assistance priorities. Debt relief should be more extensive and generous.
* Aid should be oriented to support the MDG-based poverty reduction strategy, rather than to support donor-driven projects.
Recommendation 8
High-income countries should open their markets to developing country exports through the Doha trade round and help Least Developed Countries raise export competitiveness through investments in critical trade-related infrastructure, including electricity, roads, and ports. The Doha Development Agenda should be fulfilled and the Doha Round completed no later than 2006.
Recommendation 9
International donors should mobilize support for global scientific research and development to address special needs of the poor in areas of health, agriculture, natural resource and environmental management, energy, and climate. We estimate the total needs to rise to approximately $7 billion a year by 2015.
Recommendation 10
The UN Secretary-General and the UN Development Group should strengthen the coordination of UN agencies, funds, and programs to support the MDGs, at headquarters and country level.
You can see progress towards the Goals at the UN/World Bank Global Data Monitoring Information System, and at the UN Millennium Project, headed up by Jeffrey Sachs.
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