The Millennium Development Goals Of The Millennium Summit Economics Essay

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is the end result of the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 focusing on eight development Goals: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child morality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. These goals are to be achieved by the year 2015. Using descriptive research approach, this report centers on providing relevant information on MDGs. Specially, the identified MDGs are related with human rights, the present progress in achieving its development goals are included; reasons for success and failure at global, regional and country- specific levels are explored; and its possibility as unifying vision for the international community is justified

There are eight main goals of the Millennium Development Goals, which are to be achieved by 2015. The goals represent the Global development challenges. The MDGs are strained from the actions and targets listed in the Millennium Declaration that was approved by 189 nations and signed by 147 government representatives in September 2000, during the UN Millennium summit. The head office of United Nations is in New York where the eight International Goals of the Millennium Development Goals were approved and signed by 192 members of the States of United Nations and at least 23 global bodies have decided to attain these eight goals by 2015. The goals to be achieved include reducing extreme global poverty, reducing child mortality rates; try to eradicate epidemic disease such as malaria and AIDS, and developing international relations to achieve global partnership for development and betterment of nations.

All the world’s leaders agreed to a document, the Millennium Declaration at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000. This was a remarkable achievement, not just because of the issues and problems mentioned in the declaration, but it also brought all the nations under one common platform, and made them work to overcome the Global issues and achieve human development. The United Nations Development Program clearly states that the issues covered in the MDG’s are not individual issues but they are global responsibility which could be achieved through global unity. The goals which were set were to be achieved by 2015.

The eight Millennium Development Goals 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 morality

Goal 5 – Improve material health

Goal 6 – Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7 – Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8 – Develop a global partnership for development

Progress of the Millennium Development Goals, at Global level.

The progress towards achieving the goals has been uneven. Many countries have achieved some of the goals. Some major Asian countries like China and India are progressing towards the goals. In Asia China, has reduced its poverty population from 452 million to 278 million and India has reduced its poverty by economic development and internal and external factors of population. The areas which need more concentration are the Sub – Saharan African nations.

Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger.

The first goal of the MDG’s is to eradicate extreme poverty & hunger of the people who are living under less than $1 a day. This goal is to overcome by 2015 and still many nations are behind the deadline. Nigeria’s National Special Program for Food and Security doubled its production and income of farmers from 2001 to 2007. In 2005 Malawi achieved 43% food deficits and in 2000 achieved a 53% excess food, through a national input subsidy program. In Ghana the number of people who were undernourished dropped by 74%, to 9% of the total population between the year 1991 and 2004. Between 1996 and 2006 – 07 child malnutrition, decreased from 22.2% to 5.9% in the north east Brazil.

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Achieve universal Primary Education.

This Goal is to ensure that by the year 2015 all children around the world should be able to complete primary education. The total enrolment percentage of primary schooling in rising nations in 2000 was 83% and it improved up to 88% in 2007. Positive gain can been seen in the Sub – Saharan African Nations, the primary education was 74% and it has increased by 16% since 2000. The total enrolment rate for primary education in Ethiopia for the year 2000 was 72.3% and it improved to 88% in 2007. To support primary education Tanzania government abolished the tuition cost in 2001, which led to a 98% of enrolment growth in 2006, which was twice the growth of enrolment since 1991. Almost 97% of growth took place in achieving universal primary education.

Promote Gender Equality and Empower women.

The Global goal is to eliminate gender disparity and encourage more of female education. In 1991 the woman’s Share of National Parliament seats were 13% and increased to 19% in 2006. In 2008 in the lower Parliament of Rwanda 56% of women were elected, this was the highest level of female representation in any country.

Reduce Child Morality.

The goal is to reduce global child mortality rates by almost 2/3 between 1990 and 2015. Very deliberate growth is taking place to accomplish this goal, child death rates have been halved in the Caribbean, Latin American countries’, East Asia, South East Asia and northern Africa since 1990. Africa is moving ahead in achieving the aim, in Africa the death rates caused by measles cut down approximately by 91% from an anticipated 396,000 to 36,000 between 2000 and 2006. Africa is reaching the 2010 goal of United Nation’s by 90% to cut down measles death which is almost four years prior to the deadline. In Asia China has reduced 53% under five child mortality rates since 1990.

Improve Material Health.

The Important goal of MDG’s is to reduce Material morality by three quarters and achieve global access to reproductive health. In developing Nations material morality has not reduced much according to the target set by United Nations. In countries like Rwanda and Malawi the government detached the user fees for family planning progression which led to raise of family planning services. The occurrence of contraceptives in Rwanda improved from 10% in 2005 to 26% in 2008. In the case of Malawi the occurrence of contraceptives has increased up to three times which was 33% since 1992 to 2004.

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other vital diseases.

The universal goal is to fight these deadly diseases. A decline of 30% took place in HIV/AIDS from 1996 to 2008, the HIV/AIDS rates decreased from 3.5 million to 2.7 million globally, but still a lot has to achieve to reach the goal, especially in the Sub – Saharan African Nations which accounts for 70% of all new infections in 2008. In late 1990’s in Uganda the mature HIV occurrence reduced from 15% in 2007.

Environmental Sustainability.

This goal when put together the values of sustainable development into nations policies and programmes and overturn the failure of environmental resources decrease biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a important decrease in the rate of loss Halve, by 2015, the amount of the population with no sustainable admission to safe drinking water and crucial sanitation The humanity is on track to attain the safe water target. Still, 884 million people worldwide still use improper water sources. In 2006, 2.5 billion people more than 37% of the total population did not have admission to toilets, latrines or different kinds of improved sanitation. Between 1999 and 2005, Costa Rica saved the loss of 720 sq km of forests in biodiversity with main concern areas and avoids the release of 11 million tons of carbon. In 2004, 75% of the urban population in Ghana had admission to safe water, and boost of 92% on 1990 levels. In Mali, the ratio of rural and urban populations with at least one point of admission to better sanitation increased from 55% in 1998 to 84% in 2002. Guatemala has improved its savings in water and sanitation resources, which contribute to rise in admission from 79% in 1990 to 96% in 2006. South Africa effectively gained the MDG aim of halving the amount of people missing admission to safe water, from 40% in 1994 to 19% in 2006.

Develop a global partnership for development

Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system Address the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states. Representative growth assistance rose to $119.8 billion in 2008, from $103.5 billion in 2007, an increase of 16% in actual conditions over 2007. The amount of imports from developing nations accepted free of duty into developed nations rose from 54% in 1996 to almost 79% in 2007. The amount of imports from less developed nations accepted free of duty into developed nations rose from 70% in 2000 to almost 80% in 2007. In 2008 the only nations to have reached or exceeded the goal of official development assistance as 0.7% of Gross National Income were Denmark, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

Reasons for Success and failure: Global, regional and country specific level

The goals set by the United Nations; are realistic but to sustain and achieve these goals are difficult but not impossible. As mentioned in the report many countries are reaching towards the goals as for some countries they are lacking behind there are several reasons for failure of goals in some regions; due to improper government, corruption, lack of interest from the countries’ officials, natural calamities, improper distribution of funds and foreign aid, the recent global financial crises all these factors led to failure of MDGs in some regions. One of the reasons for success of MDGs is support from the International institutions mainly the developed countries, another reason for the success of MDGs is because of the Sub – Saharan African nations, when some of these goals are implied in these regions there is a positive sign of success of some goals. But the main success of MDGs is because of International help from developed nations and due to the rapid growth in some of the Asian countries. Economy plays a vital role in any countries development,

MDGs as a unifying vision for the international community