A Reason for Hope
The MDGs are ambitious, but they
are also backed up by more than a halfcentury of development work. Over the
past six decades, the United Nations,
multilateral institutions such as the
World Bank and the development agencies of governments have worked to increase life expectancy, decrease infant
and maternal mortality rates, provide
greater access to reproductive health
care, curb malnutrition among young
children, eradicate smallpox, achieve
universal child immunization for diseases such as measles and diphtheria,
and achieve universal access to safe
drinking water. Efforts started in 1967
to eradicate smallpox, and these efforts
were successful by 1980. An initiative to
cut in half the number of children dying each year of diarrhea was achieved
by 2000.22 These and other examples
illustrate that a combination of strong
political will, a flexible approach to development strategies, and the mutual
commitment of governments can lead
to real results.
The MDGs signal a commitment to
end hunger, poverty and disease and
promote a more just, sustainable world.
Achieving the MDGs will mean that
hundreds of millions of people have
escaped hunger, poverty and disease.
It means that nations will have created
enduring institutions to sustain the
progress made in the first 15 years of
the new century. By offering hope and
opportunity to hungry and poor people, meeting these goals will improve
the prospects for people everywhere.
The MDGs demonstrate that development is not simply about achieving
economic growth or meeting isolated
targets like reducing child mortality or
improving literacy rates. Development
reflects an important set of fundamental values: freedom, equality, solidarity,
tolerance, respect for nature and shared
responsibility. As Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen put it, “Development is indeed
a momentous engagement with freedom’s possibilities.”23
6 Briefing Paper, February 2008
Endnotes
1
World Bank (2007) World Development Indicators.
Table 2.6: Poverty.
3
Black, R., Morris, S., & Bryce, J. (2003). “Where
and Why Are 10 Million Children Dying
Every Year?” The Lancet 361:2226-2234. http://
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/
PIIS0140673603137798/fulltext. World Health
Organization (2007). UNICEF (2007). Child
Deaths Fall Below 10 Million for the First Time.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_40855.
html.
UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (2000).
Fifth Report on the World Nutrition Situation:
Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes.
http://www.unsystem.org/scn/publications/
AnnualMeeting/SCN31/SCN5Report.pdf
17
UN Millennium Task Force (2005).
Halving Hunger: It can be Done. http://www.
unmillenniumproject.org/documents/Hungerlowres-complete.pdf.
18
Bryceson, D.F. and Fonseca, J. “An Enduring or
Dying Peasantry? Interactive Impact of Famine
and HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi.” AIDS, Poverty,
and Hunger: Challenges and Responses Gillespie, S.
(ed.). http://ifpri.org/pubs/books/oc50/oc50.
pdf.
19
Millennium Task Force. Op. Cit.
20
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (2007). Fourth Assessment Report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
Working Group II —Summary for Policymakers.
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/
wg2/ar4-wg2-spm.pdf.
21
Ravallion, M., Chen, S. and Sangraula P. (2007).
“New Evidence on the Urbanization of Global
Poverty.” World Bank Policy Research Working
Paper No. 4199. http://www-wds.worldbank.org/
external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/
IB/2007/08/27/000158349_20070827111606/
Rendered/PDF/wps419901update1.pdf.
22
Jolly, R. (2004). “Global Development Goals:
The United Nations Experience.” Journal of
Human Development. Vol. 5(1).
23
Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. New
York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Food and Agricultural Organization (2006).
The State of Food Insecurity in the World. ftp://ftp.
fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0750e/a0750e00.pdf.
2
16
4
UNAIDs (2007). Aids Epidemic Update. http://
data.unaids.org/pub/EPISlides/2007/2007_
epiupdate_en.pdf. UNICEF and WHO
(2006). Meeting the MDG Safe Drinking-Water and
Sanitation Target: the Urban and Rural Challenge
of the Decade. http://www.who.int/water_
sanitation_health/monitoring/jmpfinal.pdf.
5
United Nations (2000). United Nations Millennium
Declaration. ¶11. http://www.who.int/water_
sanitation_health/monitoring/jmpfinal.pdf.
6
Annan, K. (2001). Roadmap Towards the
Implementation of the United Nations Millennium
Declaration: Report of the Secretary General.
¶7. h ttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
sgreport2001.
7
Interaction (2007). The United States and the
MDGs: US Contributions to Reducing Global
Poverty, An Assessment of the U.S. and the Millennium
Development Goals. http://www.interaction.org/
files.cgi/6035_MDGFinalNov2007.pdf.
8
UNDP. Tracking the MDGs: Country Progress.
h t t p : / / w w w. u n d p . o rg / m d g / t r a c k i n g _
countryreports2.shtml.
9
24
Interaction. Op.Cit.
10
HELP Commission (2007). Beyond Assistance:
The HELP Commission Report o