de v elopment
de v elopment
As we approach the MDGs’ end
date of 2015, many targets
created by the goals have been
met or are well on the way to
being met, and, with accelerated
action, more can be reached in
the next two years. The more
that can be achieved on the
MDGs, the more credibility the
global development agenda
beyond 2015 will have.
Why we need to renew
the global development
agenda beyond 2015
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Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator
and Former Prime Minister of
New Zealand
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have
helped to set global and national development
priorities, and lift human development.
Since 2000, tremendous progress has
been made on MDG targets, including
on reducing poverty, improving access
to safe drinking water, and improving
the lives of 200 million slum dwellers.
Most of the world’s children are being
enrolled in primary school, with parity
on enrolment between boys and girls.
Infant and child deaths have dropped
dramatically, and targeted investments
in fighting malaria, HIV/AIDS, and
tuberculosis have saved many millions
of lives.
The target of halving the percentage
of people suffering from hunger by
2015 is within reach. The proportion
of undernourished people worldwide
decreased from 23% in 1990-1992 to
15% in 2010-2012. One in eight people,
however, still go hungry.
While there have been remarkable
improvements in the lives of hundreds
of millions of people, the progress has
been uneven, and our work will not be
finished until we live in a world free
of extreme poverty. Millions of people
are being left behind - particularly
the poorest and most marginalised,
minorities, and women and girls. The
disparities between and within countries
- including between urban and rural
areas - can be significant.
A time for equity, inclusion,
sustainability, and women’s
empowerment
To accelerate and sustain MDG
momentum, the focus needs to be on
equity, inclusion, and sustainability.
We need to reach those who have not
benefited from their countries’ progress
to date. Achieving the MDGs requires
economic growth which is sustainable,
inclusive, and equitable.
More determined steps need to be
taken to shift to an environmentally
sustainable path which protects the
ecosystems on which we all depend. At
the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable
Development, Rio+20, countries renewed
their commitment to sustainable
development, agreed to establish a
set of sustainable development goals,
and called for action on using natural
resources more wisely.
Since 2000,
tremendous progress
has been made
on MDG targets,
including on
reducing poverty,
improving access to
safe drinking water,
and improving the
lives of 200 million
slum dwellers
Protecting the most vulnerable requires
building resilience to shock - whether it
comes from conflicts, natural disasters,
or volatility in food and energy prices,
or other cause - and assisting countries
in or emerging from conflict to establish
peace and security and to lay the
foundations for long-term development.
To accelerate and sustain MDG progress,
efforts should focus on actions with
the greatest multiplier effects, such as
promoting women’s empowerment and
achieving gender equality. Ensuring
equal access by women and girls to
education, nutrition, basic services,
health care, employment, economic
opportunities, and decision-making at
all levels is a powerful driver of progress
across all the MDGs.
Seize momentum and build
on MDG successes now
It is to be hoped that the UN’s Member
States will agree on a single, universal,
coherent development agenda for
the post-2015 period. One set of
clear, concise, and measurable goals
could encompass the eradication
of poverty and broader sustainable
development challenges. It should be a
transformative and equitable agenda
which aims at a future where all can
enjoy high human development.
The post-2015 agenda should build on
the progress achieved on the MDGs,
while also addressing both persistent
inequalities and the new challenges
facing people and our planet.
Worldwide feedback from more than
one million people suggests that people
want a global sustainable development
agenda, backed by national policy
action, which enables them to enjoy
more empowered, more dignified,
more secure, and more resilient lives.
They want world leaders to take action
to create the conditions for a more
equitable, sustainable, and safe world.
Lifting people out of poverty and
protecting the planet’s resources are
two sides of the same coin. Both must
be at the heart of the international
community’s development agenda. Both
should be based on a firm foundation of
human rights, justice, and the rule of law.
Strong partnerships have been formed
to advance the MDGs - bringing together
governments with actors in the business
community, foundations, academic
institutions, NGOs, and other parts of
civil society. South-South co-operation is
making a strong contribution.
If promises on development assistance
are kept and commitments are delivered
on by all countries, the enormous
progress we have seen on the MDGs can
be expanded and deepened in most of
the world’s countries and regions - both
now and beyond 2015. There are fewer
than a thousand days left before a
renewed development agenda needs to
kick in. In the time we have left with the
MDGs, we must accelerate action and
scale up what works - with contributions
from national governments, the
international community, civil society,
and the private sector.
We can bring the dream of a world free
of extreme poverty into the realm of
reality - and we must to give hope to
those still suffering the indignity which
such poverty represents that they too
will live in a more fair and just world.
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