Millennium Development Goals

Facts Background Australia's response The global agenda   Facts At the 2000 UN Millennium Summit 189 heads of government from rich and poor countries committed themselves to eight time-bound targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to end poverty and hunger through improved education and health and improving gender equity and environmental sustainability by 2015 The overarching goal of reducing absolute poverty by half is within reach for the world as a whole but unlikely to be reached in sub-Saharan Africa. About one quarter of all children in developing countries are considered to be underweight and are at risk of having long term effects of undernourishment. In all but two regions, primary school enrolment is at least 90%. In six of the 10 regions the gender parity index in primary education is 95% but only 18 of the 113 countries in the other four regions is likely to achieve the goal by 2015. Deaths from measles fell from over 750,000 in 2000 to less than 250,000 in 2006, and about 80% of children in developing countries now receive a measles vaccine. Some 1.6 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water since 1990. The use of ozone-depleting substances has been almost eliminated and this has contributed to the effort to reduce global warming. The share of developing countries’ export earnings devoted to servicing external debt fell from 12.5 per cent in 2000 to 6.6% in 2006, allowing them to allocate more resources to reducing poverty. The private sector has increased the availability of some critical essential drugs and rapidly spread mobile phone technology throughout the developing world. Carbon dioxide emissions have continued to increase, despite the international timetable for addressing the problem. Developed countries’ foreign aid expenditures declined for the second consecutive year in 2007 and risk falling short of the commitments made in 2005. International trade negotiations are years behind schedule and any outcome seems likely to fall far short of the initial high hopes for a development-oriented outcome. Source: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/The%20Millennium%20Development%20Goals%20Report%202008.pdf   Background In September 2000, 189 world leaders came together at United Nations Headquarters in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets - with a deadline of 2015 - that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs commit the international community to an expanded vision of development, one that vigorously promotes human development as the key to sustaining social and economic progress in all countries, and recognizes the importance of creating a global partnership for development. Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target: 1 Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger Poverty Reduction http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/181 Food Security http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/177 Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education Target: 3 Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling Education http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/27 Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015 Gender equality http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/517 Goal 4 Reduce child mortality Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate Health http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go /pid/18 Human Rights http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/180 Goal 5 Improve maternal health Target 6: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio Education http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/27 Gender equality http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/517 Health http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/18 Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases HIV/AIDS http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/1666 Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources Target 10: Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation Target 11: Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers Environment http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/15 Goal 8 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 13: Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries’ exports, enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPCs and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction) Target 14: Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing states (through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the twenty-second 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 Target 16: In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth Target 17: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies; provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries Target 18: In cooperation with the private sector; make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies Aid http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/go/pid/24 Australia's response Australia is helping developing countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Through working with partner governments to develop effective poverty reduction strategies relevant to their circumstances and priorities, Australia is helping build the growth and stability essential to achieving the goals. Australia’s approach to the MDGs underlines the need for an open, non-discriminatory trading and financial system supported by continuing improvements in governance and stability, sound investments in people, commitment to private sector growth and openness to trade and investment. More broadly, Australia’s aid program focuses on: improving the policy environment for private sector growth promoting trade through assistance for trade analysis, trade policy and trade facilitation, such as more efficient customs and quarantine services supporting the drivers of growth by: investing in infrastructure building skilled workforces in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, focusing on technical and vocational programs in areas that meet domestic and international employment needs strengthening support for private sector-led rural and business development. addressing environmental challenges to growth through focusing on climate change and adaptation, water, and strengthening environmental regulatory regimes. http://www.ausaid.gov.au/keyaid/mdg.cfm The global agenda Rich countries have pledged to provide more and better development assistance and fairer trade to help countries that are committed to poverty reduction and sustainable development. According to the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), there has been a steady increase in aid in the last decade. Rich countries' development assistance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has more than doubled between 2000 to 2006, but the ODA-to-GNI ratio-a measure of aid effort-was lower than in 1990 and programmable aid has fallen. Global aid is also getting better. It is more flexible and aligned to national priorities; more selective-responsive to needs and quality of policies and institutions. While multilateral trade negotiations have not yet delivered tangible results, market access for developing countries has improved slightly.

The Millennium Development Goals online project aims to assist in developing local and global citizenship by providing opportunities for Primary Years students to participate in an online learning community with a focus on the Millennium Development Goals.

Quiz: The MDGs and links to reducing hunger This quiz challenges students to match a statement about hunger with each of the Millennium Development Goals. Content from the book Food for All was used to create the quiz with permission from the writers.

Australian government funds have assisted in the rebuilding of schools in Banda Aceh after the 2006 tsunami. Girls as well as boys are provided with a meal as well as an education. M Anshar/AusAID

October - December 2008: The theme is the mid-term report for the Millennium Development Goals, the global campaign to end poverty. Download or read online here