institutions and lack of respect for human rights that allow
these problems to persist. But they cannot achieve the MDGs
alone. Developed countries must also do their part by providing resources, removing obstacles and fully engaging in the
effort. By signing onto the MDGs, developed countries have
committed to providing aid, cancelling debt and reforming
trade polices in order to support rather than undermine development efforts. Since 2000, leaders from across the globe
have come together on several occasions to explore how to
build and sustain meaningful global partnerships.
World leaders have acknowledged that meeting the MDGs
will require better coordination of aid programs within and
across donor agencies and more coherence among policies
such as development, trade and migration. Making sure that
policies do not work at cross purposes is crucial, says a recent
U.S. government-sponsored report on reforming U.S. foreign
assistance. For example, trade is critical to spurring economic
growth in developing countries, but
Aid Flows Need to Speed Up
the United States
applies “the highto Meet Commitments
est trade barriers
Development projects, programs and technical cooperation
(2005 US$ billion)
to imports from
130
the poorest counG8 Summit Target (2005)
120
tries.”10 These are
110
often the very same
100
countries that receive U.S. develop90
on current trends
ment assistance. In
80
2006, Bangladesh
70
received $80 mil60
lion in U.S. foreign
50
aid, while the Unit2002
2006
2010
(preliminary)
ed States collected
Source: Gurría and Manning 2007.
$487 million in
tariffs on imports
11 The United States has been working to
from that country.
increase the competitiveness of Bangladeshi businesses, yet
its tariffs make exports from Bangladesh less competitive.
Better alignment and coordination of policies is one area
where world leaders and development experts agree that reform is needed. Stronger “ownership” of development programs by developing countries is another. At a recent conference held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), government officials from developed
and developing countries recognized that each country has a
role to play in achieving the goals. Developing countries must
take the lead in determining their own development agendas,
including defining national goals, identifying budgetary needs,
and programming for results. A country’s fight against hunger,
poverty and disease will be sustainable only when that country
takes ownership of its development policies and programs.
4 Briefing Paper, February 2008
An Interconnected Vision of Development
The problems of development are interrelated, and so too
are the solutions. People almost never suffer hunger without
poverty. Child mortality is rarely a problem when the health
of the mother is not at risk. “The multifaceted challenges of
development cut across a vast array of interlinked issues—
ranging from gender equality through health and education
to the environment,” said Kofi Annan.12
An Interconnected Set of Problems
Reducing hunger and malnutrition can play a pivotal role
in meeting other MDGs. Close to ten million children will die
this year, more than half of them due directly or indirectly to
malnutrition.13 Iron-deficiency anemia will cause the deaths of
approximately 100,000 women.14 Nutrition interventions will
directly help to achieve Goals 3 and 4, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Besides contributing to
child and maternal mortality, hunger and malnutrition affect
school attendance and performance (Goals 2 and 3), make preventing and treating infectious diseases more difficult (Goal 6)
and can even result in environmental degradation as families
put marginal land into production for foo