Millennium Development Goals

Launched in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent an unprecedented global push to reduce poverty. However, in 2010 these goals seem largely distant, and if they are to be achieved in the next 5 years, by 2015, significant action remains to be taken. Broken down into 8 goals, the MDGs highlight areas of greatest need in the global process of development.

To read more about these goals and their desired outcomes, click here.

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MDG Summit 2010 In his speech to the UN General Assembly at the MDG "Summit" on September 22, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "If the international community just keeps doing the same things the same way, we will miss many development goals. That is the truth. With ten years down and just five years before our development targets come due we must do better."

Successes:

A number of successes were noted at the MDG Summit. Countries like Ghana and Malawi were heralded as examples. Their intentional focus on economic and social development shows how countries can make significant progress towards the goals, and perhaps exceed expectations.

Several of the goals, like Goal 6 on lessening the impact of HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria; Goals 4 and 5 on child and maternal health; Goal 2 on access to primary education have country specific success stories that were also presented throughout the summit.

The summit also held some concrete outcomes. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, announced the launch of a new Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health. This $40 billion initiative calls for enhanced financing, strengthened policy and improved service delivery to ensure that all women and children get the prevention, treatment and care they need.

Similarly, the U.S. made proposals on how to "do better." President Obama announced his new Global Development Policy, which aims to restructure how U.S. federal agencies work in the field of global development. Some believe it will help foreign assistance become more effective and bolster efforts in Congress to reform U.S. aid programs.

Worth noting is a shift in both language and action by the international community, particularly among donor countries and multi-lateral development agencies, broadening the approach of aid for development. For better or worse, programs like HIV and AIDS specific clinics will shift into efforts focused more on comprehensive health system building and reform. Additionally, efforts for development enterprises like democracy building, government accountability and transparency, anti-corruption and security will be integrated into economic assistance programs. Not without fault, if these elements are implemented successfully achieving the MDGs will become markedly more plausible.

Challenges:

However, sizable challenges still remain. Non-governmental organizations, such as Amnesty International, cite the need for justice and human rights to be incorporated into the efforts of the global community in seeking to achieve the MDGs. The risk being, if individuals are not empowered to know their rights and actively seek them, governments will not be held accountable for their role in the slow rate of progress.

Tackling corruption and dependency was highlighted by President Obama at the summit. He called for, "a new approach to development that unleashes transformational change" rather than reliance on assistance that only continues dependency.

In addition, the complex nature of 'development' must be acknowledged. The very definition of successes or failures of the MDGs are subjective. For instance, countries like India and China, have both, undeniably, made gargantuan economic gains since the launch of the MDG process.

However it is critical to look deeper than statistics like a nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or their base-line economic status to infer their level of development. Issues like the growth in disparities between rich and poor, the viability/ growth of the middle class, human rights conditions, access to government, access of essential services and access to a fair judicial process are all indicators of development that are often times overlooked.

No one purports this to be an easy process, but the world has changed drastically since the year 2000, and will continue to change into the future. For now, the reality remains that much more work is needed for the Millennium Development Goals to be met. We commit to follow the effects of different strategies and policies designed to relieve the burden of poverty off the least of these throughout the world, and with your help we can use faith to guide our continued presence in the public square on this critical issue.

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