A UN
report out today profiles a world that has achieved unprecedented gains against poverty in Asia, but also one where mothers and children in many parts
of the world are dying from causes which are treatable and preventable, and where half of the developing world lacks access to simple sanitation.
At a moment when poverty
and the possibility of its eradication has returned to near the top of the
world’s agenda, the assessment of progress on the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) feeds into ongoing talks at the United Nations on international action
for development, security and human rights, and into preparations for the
Africa-oriented Group of 8 meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland.
"The year 2005 is
crucial in our work to achieve the Goals," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says
in his foreword to the report. "Instead of setting targets, this time world
leaders must decide how to achieve them."
Five years after
adoption of the Millennium Declaration, where the MDGs were fi rst enunciated,
and a decade before most of the goals and targets come due, the UN General
Assembly will review progress on all areas of the Millennium Declaration at a
summit to be held in September.
The number of people
living in extreme poverty has fallen off by 130 million worldwide since 1990,
according to
The Millennium Development Goals Report
2005, even with overall population growth of more
than 800 million in the developing regions since then.
This
reduction of humanity’s ancient enemy, on an order of magnitude dwarfi ng that
of any other period in history, was led by countries of Eastern, South Eastern
and Southern Asia, where extreme poverty was cut back by more than 230 million
since 1990,
with the Latin American–Caribbean region also contributing.
But these improvements
were offset by increases in the number of the extreme poor in other areas,
notably sub-Saharan Africa, from 227 million in 1990 to 313 million in 2001. In
all, an estimated one billion people—one in fi ve people in the developing
world—still live below the extreme poverty line of a dollar a day in income
(1993 US dollars). For the very poor in sub-Saharan Africa, the average income
actually fell, from 62 cents a day in 1990 to 60 cents in 2001.
Still, the decline of
the extreme poor, from 28 per cent of the developing world population in 1990 to
21 per cent in 2001, means that the target of cutting the proportion of the very
poor by half is expected to be met globally before the target year 2015, if
post-1990 trends persist.
Deaths of
mothers and children
The UN finds that
progress in reducing mortality rates of children and mothers is unacceptable by
any reasonable standard.
While rapid strides were
made from 1960 to 1990 in keeping children in developing countries alive past
their fi fth birthday, improvement has slowed since, placing in jeopardy
possibilities for reaching the target of further reducing the under-five
mortality rate by two thirds by 2015. Vaccinations and a range of other low-cost
prevention and treatment measures could save millions of young lives a year
(see chart).
Data indicate that fewer
women are dying during childbirth in many developing countries, but maternal
mortality rates are among those for which it is most diffi cult to obtain
accurate statistics. In developing countries, the rate is about 450 maternal
deaths out of 100,000 births, while in the developed world it is 14. In
countries where women have many children, most women face this risk many times.
Over a lifetime, a woman in a developing country is 63 times more likely to die
due to childbirth than one in the developed countries. The presence of a skilled
attendant substantially improves the chances of survival; only 57 per cent of
births were so attended in 2003, although up from 41 per cent in
1990.
Another under-addressed
concern is that half of the developing world lacks access to improved
sanitation. Vulnerability to disease is not the only result. Girls are dropping
out of school, for instance, due to lack of access to sanitary facilities. Slow
improvement regarding sanitation is in contrast to much better results in
improving access to clean water.
2005 a year of
decision
Twenty-fi ve UN agencies
and global organizations collaborated to compile the most comprehensive and
up-to-date statistics on targets and indicators associated with the Millennium
Development Goals, covering income poverty, health, education and gender
equality; environmental sustainability and slums; and trade, aid and
debt.
The considerable
progress recorded in numerous areas of human welfare since the UN global
development conferences of the 1990s can be taken as an indication that revamped
policies at
the national level, along with international cooperation and development
assistance, can produce results.
The fact that
life-or-death needs are still going unmet is an indication of the extent of
missed opportunities and the price of insuffi cient commitment.
Agreement on the means
to reach the MDG targets, including via trade, aid and debt relief, is now being
negotiated among UN Member States in preparation for the 2005 World Summit in
September. Their talks respond to the prop
osals of the
Secretary-General regarding the linked challenges of development, security and
human rights, as outlined in his 2005 report, In
larger freedom (http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/).
The Secretary-General’s
report in turn draws in part on
Investing in development,
the
2005 publication of the Millennium Project, which outlines the means
needed to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Progress on the MDGs, especially in
Africa, tops the agenda of the Group of 8 meeting to be hosted in July by the
United Kingdom. Urgency regarding fulfi lment of the MDGS was cited as the major
rationale for the pledge made three weeks ago by 15 European Union countries to
reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent of national income devoted to aid by
2015.
The
Millennium Development Goals Report
will also provide input to the 27-28 June
high-level dialogue in the UN General Assembly, on fi nancing for development
and follow-up on the 2002 Monterrey Consensus.
United Nations
Millennium Campaign:
http://www.millenniumcampaign.org/
United Nations
Millennium Project:
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/
