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October 2005 Reports UN-NGO Informal Regional Network Forum
THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Excellencies, At the onset, I would like to thank Mr Ralph Bromley, President of the Hope for the Nations, and Mr Nick Arkle, UN representative of the organization, for organizing a week so rich in events focusing on the theme of Global Citizenship, to enhance the activities of the UN-NGO-IRENE- Canada. I also would like to thank the organization for inviting me, on behalf of the United Nations, and my Director, Mr Sarbuland Khan. As you are aware, the 2005 World Summit was held in September at UN Headquarters, gathering some 170 Heads of State and Government. The Summit was regarded as an opportunity to reach agreements in the areas of security, development, human rights and United Nations reform. In the final outcome document, the Heads of State reaffirmed their commitment to the values and principles of the Charter. Apart from the recognition of the common fundamental values they strongly reiterated their determination to ensure the timely and full realization of the development goals and objectives agreed at the UN major conferences and summits, in particular the Millennium Development goals (MDGs). Development was in fact placed as one of the four overarching subjects to be considered in the 2005 Summit. It was widely recognized, however, that progress towards poverty eradication had been slow and uneven in several regions of the globe. The need of urgent action on all sides was underlined, including more ambitious national development strategies and efforts backed by increased international support. In a world as globalized and interconnected as the one we live on, joint action is the key as no state can afford to act alone. This presentation will focus on the targets set out in the MDGs, and on the multifaceted challenges of development cutting across a wide range of interlinking issues. Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day. Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger In our world today: The world today has developed a severe dichotomy between wealthy and poor nations. While many nations are eliminating poverty and hunger through growth and development, others are stagnant or declining, into even worse living conditions. Poverty and hunger are not new issues; they have only come to the forefront of discussion as it has become apparent that the world has the ability to prevent them. The world has the power to end poverty and hunger, it has the technology and wealth, and it now only needs the political will. The world's poor are getting poorer and poverty is often focused in certain regions. Some poor nations with low development prospects are individuals within a region, such as Moldova in Eastern Europe. The majority, however, are regions of stagnation and underdevelopment that compound into worse living conditions with increasing poverty and hunger. Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia, and the Caribbean, are regions of significant concern regarding hunger and development. These regions have faced significant deterrents to development such as high incidence of disease, environmental degradation, and civil strife. For these issues and others, these regions are discouraged to feed their populations or allow for basic market activities that contribute to the reduction in poverty] Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, has been the location of increasing poverty ratios over the last 15 years. Currently the regional rate of poverty is nearing 50% of the entire population, closer than it had been in 1990. The United Nations, with the intention of facilitating the world's commitment to fighting the issue of poverty worldwide, has already taken measurable steps to increase international cooperation. The United Nations Country Teams, established in all regions of the world, are working to ensure awareness of the MDGs and to assist in their implementation. The response rate of these country teams has been impressive, and it is their coordination with local governments and NGOs that will help make this first MDG possible. Additionally, the UN Secretary General has established ten UN Millennium Project Task Forces in 2002 to oversee the implementation of development projects focusing on opening trade, environmental stability, and democratization. As seen in Eastern Europe and the emerging economies of that region, democratization, open trade, and environmental stability all play heavily in a nation's ability to attract foreign capital and make the first steps towards high economic growth rates. Since the 1990s many regions throughout the world have taken steps to achieve development and have concurrently reduced poverty and hunger. Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America have all seen a great amount of economic growth, transition, and stable human development. East Asia has reduced their population living in poverty by nearly 50% since 1990. Moreover, despite increasing rate of unemployment in the few years after the breakup of the USSR, the CIS states have all made significant progress combating poverty. In the coming years the greatest challenge to development, specifically the reduction of poverty, will be inequality within nations. The majority of non-developed nations, including nations within the regions listed earlier as areas of great progress, maintain high levels of poverty in sub-regions, mainly rural areas within the nation. South Asia, for instance, has seen a great reduction of poverty levels, but mostly in urban areas. Viet Nam for example has had extraordinary rates of growth and has cut poverty from 60% in 1990 to about 32% in 2000. Viet Nam is the beneficiary of broad-based economic growth and significant human capital investments in the 1980's, but remains exceptionally divided between the rural and urban areas of the nation. The challenge for this nation, as well as many others, including India, China, Brazil, and Russia, to name a few larger nations, will be to maintain growth rates while redistributing the wealth to interior regions with millions of marginalized rural workers. Overall, growth and distribution as well as aid and cooperation, will be the factors that determine whether the world will be able to reduce hunger and poverty by half by the year 2015. The potential to make this effort a reality is still present and with dedication and redistribution from wealthy to poor, both internationally and internally, the process to eliminate hunger and poverty can be expedited. With persistence and universal pressure, it is possible to one day eliminate all deaths related to poverty and allow all individuals the opportunity to produce and sell on the world market allowing for everyone the opportunity to live above the poverty line. 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. In our world today: The best interests of the child must be ¡§a primary consideration¡ in all actions and decisions concerning him or her. An end to world poverty, as we know it, as well as the path to peace and security, requires that citizens in every country are empowered to make positive choices. This can only be achieved if all children of the world are given the chance to learn in a high-quality schooling environment at least through primary school. Education gives people choices regarding the kind of lives which they wish to lead. It enables them to express themselves with confidence in their personal relationships, in the community and at work. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where civil conflict and bloodshed plagued the land throughout the 1990's, the rate of primary education is very low. The government, however, is taking steps to ensure budget increases and engagement in the restructuring of the educational system. Achieving the goal will require dramatically scaled-up efforts in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and Oceania. Factors that affect primary school enrollment include AIDS, poverty, and gender equality. It is therefore essential that progress on other goals be made to ensure the implementation of education. All developing country regions experienced an increase in their primary net enrollment ratios from 1990/91- 2001/02, but sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia, and Oceania are still falling short. However, there are positive developments. Thanks to debt cancellation, Tanzania, for example, was able to abolish school fees and enroll more than one million additional children in primary school. Uganda, in the second half of the 1990's, was also able to introduce free primary education, allowing an increase in public spending. Enrollment rates rose from 5.3 million to 7.6 million between 1997 and 2003. Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and for in all levels of education no later than 2015. In our world today: It has been said that poverty has a woman's face. Societies where women are more equal stand a much greater chance of achieving the Millennium Goals by 2015. Every single goal is directly related to women's rights. In Asia, Latin America, and Africa, where women have been given the chance to succeed through small business loans or increased educational opportunities, families are stronger, economies are stronger. It is clear that social norms, political culture, and public attitudes matter as much as economic wealth and overall human development in defining opportunities for women. Wage-employment rates of women have changed little in most regions since 1990, and are far below those for men in all regions except Latin America and the Caribbean, where 43% of wage workers are now women, and Eastern Asia, where the proportion is 40%. Women continue to be vastly underrepresented in national parliaments in most regions. Only in the Nordic countries do women hold 40% of the seats. Furthermore, the rights and equality of women is not only a core development goal in itself, but it is also the key to the survival and development of children and to building healthy families, communities, and nations. Discrimination against women hurts both women and the next generation of children, boys and girls alike. Starting even before birth, a child's health and development prospects are closely linked with the mother's health and socio-economic status. Unfortunately, trend projections are not encouraging. By 2015 the shortfall from the gender parity target will be equivalent to 6 million girls out of school, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Of course there is more to gender parity than attendance in school. Wider aspects of gender disadvantage are rooted in attitudes and cultural practices that diminish the value of girls' education. However, progress in reversing this mind-set has been made, and its fundamental importance is a key part in implementing the MDGs. In Bangladesh, for example, improved access to health and education for women, allied with expanded opportunities for employment and access to microcredit, has expanded choice and empowered women. Women have become increasingly powerful catalysts for development, demanding greater control over fertility and birth spacing, education for their daughters and access to services. Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. In our world today: In low-income countries, one out of every 10 children dies before the age of five. In wealthier nations, this number is only one out of 143. Progress is on track, or nearly so, in Northern Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South-East Asia. In these regions, economic growth, better nutrition and access to health care have spurred improvements in child survival. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to have the highest level of under-five mortality, estimated at 174 under-five deaths per 1,000 live births, and more than 20 times the rate in developed regions. Low-cost prevention and treatment measures are underway, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, where the child mortality is most problematic. These include exclusive breast-feeding of infants, antibiotics for acute respiratory infections, oral rehydration for diarrhea, immunization, and the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and appropriate drugs for malaria. Proper nutrition is part of prevention as well, because malnutrition increases the risk of dying from disease. Better care for mothers and babies before and after birth are necessary to address the challenge of the one third of these deaths that occur in the first days of life. For instance, the child mortality rate in Nigeria has fallen from 235 per 1,000 live births to 198 since 1990. While this is a slight improvement, at this rate it will take Nigeria another 40 years to achieve the MDG target. This should serve as a wake-up call for the international community to help the UN in reducing child mortality. If children are sick because their families lack access to clean water and affordable medicine, they will never be able to experience the full value of investments in education. Awareness about the issue must inspire the global NGO community to coordinate with local governments about possible change and specific programs. Developed countries must donate resources and invest in the well-being of those less fortunate. Goal 5: Improve maternal health Target 6: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio. In our world today: In high-fertility countries in sub-Saharan Africa, women have a one in 16 chance of dying during childbirth. In low-fertility countries in Europe, this number is one in 2,000 and in North America it's one in 3,000. Recent estimates continue to indicate high rates of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: of an estimated 529,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2000, 445,000 occurred in those two regions. The maternal mortality rate was highest in sub-Saharan Africa, at 920 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Recent data on the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel, a critical factor in reducing maternal deaths, indicate significant improvement in Northern Africa and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Local governments are targeted to better health policies around the world in order to produce results such as these. As an example, in Egypt, the concept of "Safe-Motherhood", addressed through the government sponsored Reproductive and Child Health program, showed positive results of service delivery. Public awareness campaigns, family planning clinics, and women's education helped modify attitudes that directly affect reproductive healthcare in Egypt. Reproductive mortality rates have decreased and other reproductive health indicators have improved significantly over the last 10-12 years. The rate of maternal death in 1992 at 174 per 100,000 live births has significantly improved to only 84 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000. 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. In our world today: Teachers fall ill and die from AIDS. When children lost teachers, education systems are stretched to the limit. As more and more farmers get sick and die, families and villages are having a harder time feeding their own. The epidemic has an especially large impact on the military and police populations. Health systems are suffering from a lethal interaction of two effects: attrition among workers and rising demand. Already overstretched health infrastructures are being pushed to the brink of collapse. Lawlessness has become a real concern in many places. The AIDS epidemic will soon be the most deadly of any disease ever to affect human beings. Peace and development are not possible until we bring the epidemic to a halt. Malaria, together with HIV/AIDS and TB, is one of the major public health challenges undermining development in the poorest countries in the world. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds. It can have a debilitating effect on adults as well, often removing them from the workforce for days or even weeks at a time. A multi-pronged approach, including education, prevention, and treatment, can begin to reverse the spread of the AIDS epidemic. The world now has the resources and the knowledge to begin to win the battle against HIV and AIDS, and get back to the business of economic development in the poorest countries. Stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases, especially malaria and tuberculosis, has received greater political and financial support from donors but annual funding remains significantly short of the estimated $12 billion needed in 2005 to distribute free insecticide bed nets in malaria epidemic zones, for instance, or expand the use of effective drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Trends in AIDS prevalence and deaths, available for the first time in 2004, indicate that the number of persons living with HIV/AIDS increased from 35 million in 2001 to 38 million in 2003. The epidemic remains most severe in Africa, particularly Southern Africa, where 24-39% of pregnant women aged 15-24 in capital cities were infected with the virus in 2003. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has also struck the Eastern European and Central Asian region with exceptional force as the number of people infected with the disease has risen from 30,000 in 1995 to 1.4 million in 2004. The locations most affected by the disease are Russia and Ukraine, accounting for 93% of the total cases in the region. This region, while late to the world epidemic, now have the fastest growing rate of incidence. To respond to such threats, WHO and the United Nations partners are working with governments, particularly in least developed countries, to improve the preparedness of national health systems through capacity-building, exchange of information and other measures, including building up laboratory and epidemiology capacity. At a global level, new initiatives, such as the WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, are bringing together more than 120 partners to provide timely and high-quality technical support. Many success stories have been registered. For instance, Thailand's response to HIV/AIDS is a story of impressive achievements. Since 1991, yearly new infections have fallen dramatically and millions of lives have been spared. Thailand is one of the very first countries to have achieved the sixth Millennium Development Goal, to begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015, well in advance of target date. Another example of positive results is Uganda. The government has been open and committed in its fight against AIDS, adopting a multi-sectoral approach since AIDS has been considered to be a cross-cutting issue. The government has developed the National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS activities in Uganda. It is a partnership involving all stakeholders in the fights against AIDS, including the Joint United Nations Programme on Aids, NGOs, CBOs and the private sector. Rates of HIV prevalence have sharply declined from 20% in 1991 to 6.5% in 2001, and made Uganda a model example internationally in combating the disease. Goal 7: Ensure environmental stability 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: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers In our world today: In 2005, the picture regarding goal 7 is mixed. Efforts to combat deforestation are ongoing. Sustainable forest management practices are reducing pressure on the land and improving the livelihoods of communities living in and around forests. Still, it is a race against time. Sustainability will be difficult with current patterns of resource consumption and use. Resource abundance as well as scarcity is a known determinant in exacerbating civil conflicts, which in turn, worsen prospects for progress. Uniform monitoring of resources must be conducted to ensure the stability of societies as well. Urban access to improved drinking water is nearly universal, except in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania, where it has declined. The most impressive gains were made in Southern Asia. The jump was fuelled primarily by increased coverage in India, home to over 1 billion people. Significant improvements have been made in rural access in all regions, but only a few countries have achieved improvement at a sufficient rate to meet the target. If present trends continue, however, close to 2.4 billion people worldwide will still be without improved sanitation in 2015. Nearly one in three city dwellers almost 1 billion people's lives in slums, in conditions characterized by overcrowding, little employment or security of tenure, poor water, sanitation and health services, and widespread insecurity, including violence against women. Surveys suggest that in some African cities, the death rate of children under age 5 who live in slums is about twice as high as that of children in other urban communities. Despite these negative trends, progress is being made. For example, take the situation in Kenya. The government recognized the inevitability of slums and informal settlements as early as 1970 in the National Development Plan. Since then, the evolution of policies and interventions dealing with informal settlements in Kenya fits into multiple stages, including the newly created formulation of a comprehensive national slum upgrading program under the Kenya Slum Upgrading Program (KENSUP). The program is initially meant to cover the urban areas starting with selected slums within the administrative boundaries of Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa. 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 program of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries 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 Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly) Target 15: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth 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 communications It is clear that it is the primary responsibility of poor countries to work towards achieving the first seven goals. They must do their part to ensure greater accountability to citizens and efficient use of resources. But for poor countries to achieve the first seven goals, it is absolutely critical that rich countries deliver more effective aid, more sustainable debt relief, and fairer trade rules- well in advance of 2015. At the September 2005 World Summit, Member States agreed to take action in providing an additional $50 billion a year by 2010 for fighting poverty, the amount of aid necessary if the Millennium Goals are to be achieved. Developed countries agreed several decades ago to work towards contributing 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) each year in aid, but today only five European countries have reached the .7% commitment (Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg). Five others committed to achieve the 0.7% by a concrete date (Ireland by 2007, Belgium by 2010, France and Spain by 2012, and the UK by 2013). Too much aid has been driven by strategic geo-political objectives, rather than specifically targeting poverty reduction. To increase the effectiveness of aid, donors should target poor countries, encourage increased ownership and back home-grown strategies, untie aid, and focus aid on achieving the Millennium Goals. If used properly, aid could be the most effective way to increase economic growth, improve basic services, extend social insurance, support reconstruction of conflict-ridden countries, and meet global health challenges. Coordination on the part of donor countries must be used to successfully transfer aid into local projects. International trade has a tremendous potential to reduce poverty worldwide and drive economic growth. World Bank estimates show that ending rich country trade barriers and subsidies in agriculture would improve global welfare by about $120 billion; and just a 1% increase in developing countries' share of world exports would lift 128 million people out of poverty. But present trade policies discriminate against developing countries. Three-quarters of the world's poor - 900 million people - live in rural areas and depend on agriculture or related activities for their livelihoods. But, rich country farm subsidies keep world prices artificially low, undermining incentives and earning opportunities for poor country farmers. Poor countries also face high tariffs and other barriers to rich country markets. Another important aspect of our global community where partnership is needed regards today's youth. One must consider that youth unemployment is a serious potential source of unrest. Of the 185 million jobless people worldwide, just under half are young people aged 15-24. In developing regions, young people are three times more likely than adults to be unemployed. The total number of young people has increased by over 115 million since 1990, to nearly 1.2 billion in 2004, and is expected to grow by an additional 64 million by 2015. However, action is being taken. I would like for instance to refer to The YES campaign which was launched by delegates from 120 countries at the Alexandria Youth Employment Summit, in Egypt in 2002. The YES Framework for Action to increase youth employment is organized around six key principles for youth development, and which must be attained in order to improve young people's ability to earn sustainable livelihoods. In 60 countries, YES is bringing together diverse stakeholders through the YES Country Networks, which bring youth organizations together with governments, NGOs, the private sector, and academic and training institutions to collaborate on future projects. This action is a necessary step towards alleviating youth unemployment, which drags on national economies and is a waste of a country's most important resource. This so-called drag on economies results in many developing countries being saddled with debt so high that paying off just the annual interest costs more than what is spent on health care and education combined. Debt relief is more efficient than aid as a way for donors to help poor countries reach the goals as it provides more flexible funding, targets countries in need and provides budget support that can be applied to national priorities, since it is not tied to donor demands. At the March 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, world leaders established a landmark framework for a global development partnership in which developed and developing countries agreed to take joint actions for poverty reduction. Later in the same year, UN Member States gathered at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they reaffirmed the goals as the world's time-bound development targets. Wealthy countries who pledged to alleviate the financial pressure on poorer countries must make good on that promise. Even more positive steps have been made in that direction. A debt relief program, the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) was launched in 1996 and for which a total of 38 countries, mostly in Africa, are in principle eligible. The criteria which make a country eligible include an assessment by the World Bank and IMG showing a potential need for debt relief, as well as a per capita income below $785. Furthermore, at the G8 summit in London on June 11th, finance ministers agreed to write off $40 billion in debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. More recently, the United Nations World Summit in September of this year resulted in the agreement by Member States to consider additional measure to cancel 100% of the official multilateral and bilateral debt of the HIPCs. Conclusion: In this global effort, it is obvious that governments alone cannot resolve today's issues at stake. A wide array of actors now jostle alongside governments civil society, the private sector, local authorities, academia and parliamentarians. Governments must work actively with all constituencies, particularly civil society organizations. Civil society can help define priorities, design national strategies, deliver services, defend human rights, and supervise governments in the fight against corruption. Internationally, civil society can mobilize support among important constituencies to keep pressure on world leaders to follow through on political commitments, respecting citizens and their rights, celebrating cultural diversity and redefining security to embrace the notion of human security. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement national and international agreements. In the last two decades, NGO participation in the work of the United Nations has increased exponentially at UN offices and in the field. At the international level, thousands of organizations are active. According to one estimate, some 25,000 now qualify as international NGOs (with programs and affiliates in a large number of countries) ¡V up from less than 400 a century ago. Amnesty International, for example, has more than a million members and it has affiliates or networks in over 90 countries and territories. At the September World Summit, world leaders took steps towards implementing in full commitments already made, rendering operational frameworks that are already in place, and introducing a pact for action to which all nations will subscribe and to which all can be judged. NGOs and governments working together on these commitments will create forces of betterment everywhere. As the SG stated in his report, we all know what the problems are, and we all know what have promised to achieve. What is needed now is not more declarations or promises, but action to fulfill the promises already made. I thank you.
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