Ana Teresa Santos, intern at UNRIC, Portugal Desk, in Brussels
"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are still achievable if we act now. This will require inclusive sound governance, increased public investment, economic growth, enhanced productive capacity, and the creation of decent work." Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.
At the beginning of the new millennium, 192 heads of state gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to sign the Millennium Declaration. For the first time in human history, world leaders of committed countries united to try to end poverty, achieve universal peace and promote human dignity, equality and environmental sustainability. Also, for the first time, eight goals were established and a deadline was set for achieving them. The international community promised to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, but with the world being affected by the global financial and economic crisis, we must ask ourselves if this target is still realistic?
In the past eight years some progress has been made: the number of people living in extreme poverty is down by 320 million; there were less than 3 million child deaths from preventable causes, more than 28 million children attending school; and the gender disparity has decreased. Furthermore, access to clean water has improved and the value of international aid has grown from USD$70 billion to USD$104 billion. However, given the current crisis, the scenario is changing for all mankind – and not in a positive way.
In developed countries, fiscal pressure and rising unemployment will probably erode public and political support for aid. The international crisis that is affecting markets worldwide, with no end in sight, is affecting the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), strongly dependent on aid, more severely. Moreover, as the economies of developed countries are facing a slowdown, the amount of money available to aid LDCs is expected to decline. The already scarce income of the poor will become scarcer because they are strongly dependent on foreign direct investment and on the strength of more advanced economies.
Some early figures produced by the World Bank, predict that more than 53 million people will be trapped in poverty and that there will be between 200 000 to 400 000 more child deaths annually. This year is the first year, since the MDGs were launched, in which poverty at the global level will not be reduced, but will increase instead.
This crisis that started in the financial markets of developed countries has a direct impact not only on the economies of the poor, but also on their social structures. International trade is declining and the countries that are strongly dependent on exports are suffering the most. Protectionism seems to have returned, and some countries in the least developed regions just do not seem to be prepared for that. The worst part is that the governments of LDCs are not able to respond to the crisis with fiscal intervention, as other governments are doing in the west.
With little money to spend and to avoid more impact on the economy, governments in the LDCs are starting to make cuts in what they think are the least vital sectors. Education is one of the first sectors to suffer. At a public level, governments stop investing in infrastructure. At a private level, families start to experience more economic hardship and children are forced to drop out of school and start working, which affects the attainment of the MDGs by 2015. Furthermore, these actions have a long-term effect as uneducated children will become adults with decreased prospects, ambition and lacking enough knowledge to raise educated and healthy children.
To avoid this contagious effect and to find an alternative plan of action for the MDGs the international community should consider creating a continuous transfer of funds to developing countries, and the fiscal stimulus packages should be implemented at a global level rather than a national level. Furthermore, as it was recently argued at the G20 summit, it is urgent to implement a reform of the International Monetary Fund, and developing countries should have a say in the construction of the new economic framework.
It is also urgent to analyze the progress and setbacks made in the context of the implementation of the MDGs. The international community should examine which actions and tools worked in the implementation of the goals and which didn’t. Only by doing this, will the UN be able to define a plan B to achieve the goals, if not by 2015 then by 2025.
What is truly important is that these goals are achieved no matter how long it takes. They should be seen by countries as a way to solve this crisis and not as a burden. Investments in poverty reduction, healthcare and education are tools to achieve economic recovery: a more developed nation is a nation with more capability and know-how to struggle for economic health and to overcome a crisis like the present one.
Donors should honour their promises, not just as a matter of principle but because reductions in aid will magnify the negative impacts of the crisis. This crisis is the right time for the international community to show its commitment and determination to change the status quo and create a better world free from poverty; the MDGs are the right instrument to create that world. ■
"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are still achievable if we act now. This will require inclusive sound governance, increased public investment, economic growth, enhanced productive capacity, and the creation of decent work." Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.
At the beginning of the new millennium, 192 heads of state gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to sign the Millennium Declaration. For the first time in human history, world leaders of committed countries united to try to end poverty, achieve universal peace and promote human dignity, equality and environmental sustainability. Also, for the first time, eight goals were established and a deadline was set for achieving them. The international community promised to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, but with the world being affected by the global financial and economic crisis, we must ask ourselves if this target is still realistic?
In the past eight years some progress has been made: the number of people living in extreme poverty is down by 320 million; there were less than 3 million child deaths from preventable causes, more than 28 million children attending school; and the gender disparity has decreased. Furthermore, access to clean water has improved and the value of international aid has grown from USD$70 billion to USD$104 billion. However, given the current crisis, the scenario is changing for all mankind – and not in a positive way.
In developed countries, fiscal pressure and rising unemployment will probably erode public and political support for aid. The international crisis that is affecting markets worldwide, with no end in sight, is affecting the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), strongly dependent on aid, more severely. Moreover, as the economies of developed countries are facing a slowdown, the amount of money available to aid LDCs is expected to decline. The already scarce income of the poor will become scarcer because they are strongly dependent on foreign direct investment and on the strength of more advanced economies.
Some early figures produced by the World Bank, predict that more than 53 million people will be trapped in poverty and that there will be between 200 000 to 400 000 more child deaths annually. This year is the first year, since the MDGs were launched, in which poverty at the global level will not be reduced, but will increase instead.
This crisis that started in the financial markets of developed countries has a direct impact not only on the economies of the poor, but also on their social structures. International trade is declining and the countries that are strongly dependent on exports are suffering the most. Protectionism seems to have returned, and some countries in the least developed regions just do not seem to be prepared for that. The worst part is that the governments of LDCs are not able to respond to the crisis with fiscal intervention, as other governments are doing in the west.
With little money to spend and to avoid more impact on the economy, governments in the LDCs are starting to make cuts in what they think are the least vital sectors. Education is one of the first sectors to suffer. At a public level, governments stop investing in infrastructure. At a private level, families start to experience more economic hardship and children are forced to drop out of school and start working, which affects the attainment of the MDGs by 2015. Furthermore, these actions have a long-term effect as uneducated children will become adults with decreased prospects, ambition and lacking enough knowledge to raise educated and healthy children.
To avoid this contagious effect and to find an alternative plan of action for the MDGs the international community should consider creating a continuous transfer of funds to developing countries, and the fiscal stimulus packages should be implemented at a global level rather than a national level. Furthermore, as it was recently argued at the G20 summit, it is urgent to implement a reform of the International Monetary Fund, and developing countries should have a say in the construction of the new economic framework.
It is also urgent to analyze the progress and setbacks made in the context of the implementation of the MDGs. The international community should examine which actions and tools worked in the implementation of the goals and which didn’t. Only by doing this, will the UN be able to define a plan B to achieve the goals, if not by 2015 then by 2025.
What is truly important is that these goals are achieved no matter how long it takes. They should be seen by countries as a way to solve this crisis and not as a burden. Investments in poverty reduction, healthcare and education are tools to achieve economic recovery: a more developed nation is a nation with more capability and know-how to struggle for economic health and to overcome a crisis like the present one.
Donors should honour their promises, not just as a matter of principle but because reductions in aid will magnify the negative impacts of the crisis. This crisis is the right time for the international community to show its commitment and determination to change the status quo and create a better world free from poverty; the MDGs are the right instrument to create that world. ■
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