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Mercy Global Concern - 2003
Progress Report on the Millennium Development
Goals: Transfer of Resources to Developing Countries.
- Economic Growth is critical for developing countries to
reach the poverty and service delivery of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) Despite the wee-established and virtuous cycle
of progress between growth and the MDGs, the evidence is also
clear that projected levels of growth alone will not be sufficient
to reach the MDGs. This is especially true for low-income countries
of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for the health and education
MDGS.
- While pursuing growth, there is need to improve the effectiveness
of existing resources, which is largely reliant on actions
that developing countries themselves need to undertake and
incorporate into country PRSP's (Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers) Reforms are needed both within and across sectors to
build strong policy and institutional frameworks which encourage
efficiency, accountability and service delivery.
- In view of the multi-sectoral determinants of the MDGs and
the inter-dependence of the goals, coordinated investments
at the country level are essential. Bluntly speaking, many
of the poorest countries will not reach the MDGs unless all
development partners take decisive action without delay.
MDG Gaps
The depth of the challenge varies across the different goals.
- In the year 2000, 115 million primary school children in
developing countries were not in school, of which 79 million
had never attended school. Over 64 million (56%) of the out
of school children were girls; 42 million (37%) were from Sub-Saharan
Africa. Current trends suggest that 70 countries are at risk
on universal primary completion by 2015 and there is no data
for a further 16 countries.
- Over 10.5 million children in the developing world die before
their 5th birthday, most from preventable causes.
- At present, 1 billion people live without access to safe
drinking water. 2.2 billion people without adequate sanitation
and 4 billion live in conditions where their wastewater is
discharged untreated in local water bodies.
- Current trends suggest that no more than 1 in 5 countries
are on track to achieve the target of a 50% reduction in population
without access to these services.
- These challenges alone call for dramatic action. Unless
we are able to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, however, the
MDGs will be unachievable. The facts are stark. At the end
of 2002, 39 million adults and 3 million children were living
with HIV/AIDS. Currently, projections suggest an ADDITIONAL
45 MILLION will be infected between 2002 and 2010 unless the
world succeeds in mounting a drastically expanded global prevention
effort.
| (Box.1) Inter-dependency of MDGs |
| 1. In 1993 alone, health costs pushed 3 million Vietnamese
into poverty. |
| 2. About 20 % of the Education for All (EFA) annual financing
gap ($975) is attributable to HIV/AIDS. |
| 3. Each year Zambia loses half as many teachers as it trains
to HIV/AIDS |
| 4. More than 60% of all child mortality is associated with
malnutrition. |
| 5. In Morocco girls' attendance at school more than doubles
with the existence of a paved road. |
| 6. Mothers who have completed primary school education
are 50% more likely to have their children immunized. |
| 7. In Bangladesh school attendance increases by 15% with
access to piped water and lower water collection times. |
| 8. Access to sewerage in urban Nicaragua reduced child
mortality by 50% in those communities. |
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