Millennium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) By Dr O.M.Ebuehi

Situation Analysis

• Slow growth arising from political & economic instability in SubSaharan Africa in the 1990s, has made the region, the largest with people living below $1 a day. • HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death, but malaria and tuberculosis are also serious problems. These epidemics present a major public health, economic and social challenge. • Reduced life expectancy from 50 to 46 years. The main reason for its declining life expectancy is the high infant mortality rate, 103 per 1,000 live births, with HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of deaths. • Lowest average primary school completion rates. • Poor infrastructural development: 13%of roads are paved, and less than 3 percent of the population have access portable water and good housing

Situation Analysis (cntd) More than 1.2 billion people or about 20 percent of world population live on less that US $1 per day. The UNDP in its 1998 report documented that the three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 48 least developed countries.

• Nigeria, which was one of the richest 50 countries in the early 1970s, is now one of the 25 poorest countries at the threshold of the twenty first century. • The incidence increased to 69.2 percent in 1997. • Using the rate of US $2 per day to measure the poverty level, the percentage of those living below poverty line will increase to 90.8 percent.

• The gross national income per capita is US $260; • under five mortality rate per 1,000 live births is 153; • maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births is 1,100; and • life expectancy at birth is 46 years for males and 48 years for females. • Nigeria is among the 20 countries in the world with the widest gap between the rich and the poor.

• The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income ( or in some cases consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. • A Gini index of zero represents perfect equality while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. • Nigeria has one of the highest Gini index in the world. • The Gini index for Nigeria is 50.6. This compares poorly with other countries such as India(37.8), Jamaica(37.9), Mauritania(37.3) and Rwanda(28.9).

MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Background: UN millenium declaration • September 2000 – Largest ever gathering of heads of states, the MDGs were adopted. • To address poverty and promote sustainable development. • The Declaration, endorsed by 189 countries, was then translated into a roadmap setting out goals to be reached by 2015. • MDGs - eight in number

MDGs • The MDGs are the world’s targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015— poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter—while promoting gender equality, education, health, and environmental sustainability.

MDG1 UN member states pledged to, by 2015: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Target-between 1990 – 2015,half the number of poor and hungry people.

MDG2 2. Achieve universal primary education. Target: Between 1990 and 2015- all children (boys and girls) will be able to complete full primary education.

MDG3 Promote gender equality and empower women. Target-eliminate gender disparity in: (a)Primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 (b) All levels of education no later than 2015

MDG4 4. Reduce child mortality. Target-reduce by 2/3 (btw 1990 and 2015), the under -5- mortality rate

MDG5 5. Improve maternal health. Target-reduce by 3/4 (1990 and 2015), the maternal mortality ratio

MDG6 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015, to have halted and begin to reverse spread of HIV/AIDS, incidence of malaria and other major disease.

MDG7 Ensure environmental sustainability – Half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water, etc

MDG8 8. Develop a global partnership for development – Provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries – Make available benefits of new technologies – Address special needs of developing countries, etc

NIGERIA AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS. % OF POPULATION WITHOUT ACCESS TO SAFE WATER

40 20

% OF PEOPLE

% OF PEOPLE

% OF POPULATION IN EXTREME POVERTY

29.3 14.7

13.9

0

Series1

1992

1996

2015

13.9

29.3

14.7

60 40

55 46 23

20 0

YEAR

Series1

1995

1996

2015

55

46

23

YEAR

MATERNAL AND UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY RATE 1000 500 0

U5MR MMR

178 704 59 176

147 1995

1996

2015

147

178

59

704

176

YEAR

NIGERIA AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS.

Journey so far…..  In 2002, the UN sec general commissioned “The Millennium Project” to develop a concrete action plan for the world to reverse the grinding poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people.  Headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the Millennium Project is an independent advisory body and presented its final recommendations, Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals to the SecretaryGeneral in January 2005.

Journey so far…..(cntd) • Investing in Development proposes straightforward solutions for meeting the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadline.

• The millennium project came up with ten key recommendations. • RECOMMENDATIONS • Recommendation1 • Developing country govt. should adopt development strategies bold enough to meet the MDG targets for 2015(ie MDG-based poverty reduction strategies.

RECOMMENDATIONS • Recommendation 2 • The MDG-based poverty reduction strategies should anchor the scaling up of public investments, capacity building, domestic resource mobilization, & official development assistance. • They should also provide a framework for strengthening governance, promoting human rights, engaging civil society and promoting the private sector

Recommendation 3 • Developing country govt should craft & implement the MDG-based poverty reduction strategy in transparent & inclusive processes, working closely with the civil society organizations, the domestic private sectors & international partners.

• Recommendation 4 • International donors should identify at least a dozen MDG “fast-track” countries for a rapid scale-up of official development assistance (ODA) in 2005, recognizing that many countries are already in a position for a massive scale-up on the basis of their good governance and absorptive capacity.

• Recommendation 5 • Developed & developing countries should jointly launch, in 2005, a group of quick win actions to save & improve millions of lives & to promote economic growth. • They should also launch a massive effort to build expertise at the community level.

• Recommendation 6 • Developing country govts. should align national strategies with such regional initiatives as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) & the Caribbean Community(& common market), & regional groups should receive increased direct donor support for regional projects.

• Recommendation 7 • High-income countries should increase official devpt assistance (ODA) from 0.25% of donor GNP in 2003 to around 0.44% in 2006 & 0.54% in 2015 to support the MDGs, particularly in low-income countries, with improved ODA quality. • Each donor should reach 0.7% not later than 2015 to support the goals & other devpt assistance priorities. • Debt relief should be more extensive & generous.

• Recommendation 8 • High income countries should open their markets to developing country exports through the Doha trade round & help least developed countries raise export competitiveness through investments in critical trade-related infrastructure, including electricity, roads, & ports.

• Recommendation 9 • International donors should mobilize support for global scientific research & devpt to address special needs of the poor in areas of health, agriculture, natural resource & environmental management, energy, & climate.

• Recommendation 10 • The UN Secretary-general & the UN devpt. group should strengthen the coordination of UN agencies, funds & programs to support the MDGs, at headquarters & country level. • The UN country teams should be strengthened & should work closely with the international financial institutions to support the goals.

Assignment • Write a report on progress made so far in achieving the MDGs in Nigeria • To be submitted on or before 16th October 2009 at ICHPC, CMUL