Issue 78

Backgrounder

Building hope through the Millennium Development Goals

The birth of the Millennium in 2000 was a memorable event. A great deal of hype and excitement surrounded the leap into the 21 st Century. Many people saw the birth of the new millennium as an opportunity to start afresh, to set not only New Year resolutions but also New Millennium resolutions. The United Nations was therefore not alone when in September 2000 it laid down a set of resolutions at the Millennium Summit. The summit brought together development agencies, civil organisations and Heads of State from across the world (Prime Minister John Howard attended on behalf of Australia ). However, millennium resolutions were different as they concerned not only individuals but also the whole global community. The resolutions, which are still alive, are concerned with freeing all men, women and children in our world from the conditions that tie them to extreme poverty. They are resolutions for the global community to meet in the new millennium. These resolutions were named the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They were established as guiding aims for our global community to meet in order to eradicate extreme poverty. So, what exactly are the goals? And who is involved?

What are the Millennium Development Goals?

The United Nations set down eight MDGs with specific targets for each goal. These goals and targets are set out below:

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Targets:

• Halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015.
• Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015.

Achieve universal primary education

Target:

• Ensure that by 2015 all children will be able to complete a full course of primary education.

Promote gender equality and empower women.

Target:

• Eliminate the gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education by 2015.

Reduce child mortality

Target:

• Reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate for children under five.

Improve maternal health

Target:

• Reduce the maternity mortality rate by three-quarters by 2015.

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Target:

• Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015.

Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Targets:

• Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
•   Reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015.
• Achieve significant improvements in the condition of slum dwellers by 2020.

Develop a global partnership for development

Targets:

• Develop an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system.
• Raise official development assistance.
• Encourage debt sustainability by dealing with developing countries' debt problems.
• Develop decent and productive work for youth.
• Provide access to affordable and essential drugs in developing countries in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies.
• In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies - especially information and communication technologies.

Who is involved?

189 nations in the United Nations, including Australia , have signed the goals on behalf of their populations. The majority of the global community is therefore committed in writing to eradicating extreme poverty in our world.

What needs to be done?

The next and more difficult step is ensuring that the words of the MDGs are made a reality. Signing a declaration is as easy as making a New Year resolution. The difficulty is keeping the resolution. Governments, companies and individuals have an obligation to ensure that the MDGs are pursued and met. The teaching and learning activities offer some tangible ways to achieve the MDGs.

Teaching and Learning Activities

Activities across the Curriculum

1. Order a copy of the MDG poster to display in your class by contacting Caritas Australia on phone: 1800 024 413 or Email: caritas@caritas.org.au .
2. Complete the MDG activities designed by Caritas by visiting the following site: www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/advocacy_mdg.htm and clicking on the 'secondary school activities' icon.
3. Go to the following site: www.developmentgoals.org/Achieving_the_Goals.htm
   • What are some of the problems that stand in the way of reaching the MDG targets?
   • What are three things that need to be done to help achieve the MDGs?
4. Complete the MDG quiz by visiting the following website: www.netaid.org/campaigns/mdg/goals/goal1.pt
5. Organise an awareness raising campaign for MDGs at your school.
   • To get ideas visit the following site :
     www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/pc04/materials/Secondary%20Activities%20-%20Project%20Compassion.pdf
     and scroll down to activity 23. Choose activities from the 'spread the word' section.
   • Organise a school assembly on MDGs. For ideas visit the following site: www.cafod.org.uk/resources/schoolsteachers/school_assemblies/millennium_development_goals_ks2
6. Compose a letter to Prime Minister John Howard to encourage him to keep Australia 's promise to meet the MDGs. In your letter you may wish to remind him that:
   • he made a promise on behalf of the Australian people to meet the MDG targets and raise awareness
   • one billion people still survive on less than US$1 a day
   • every year nearly 11 million children die from preventable diseases
   • 60% of the world's population live on 5.6% of its income

   Also ask him:

   • to restate his commitment to the MDGs
   • what the Australian government has done so far.

   Send your letter with as many signatures as possible to:

   The Prime Minister
   Parliament House
   CANBERRA ,
   ACT 2600

7. One of the biggest barriers to countries meeting the MDGs is debt. Sunday May 16th is Jubilee Sunday or World Debt Day. On this day all Australians are asked to call for a 100 % cancellation of unpayable and unjust debt. A lot of debt can never be repaid and locks millions of people into extreme poverty.
   • To raise awareness or for more information visit the Jubilee website: www.jubileeaustralia.org or send an email to the National Coordinator, Jubilee Australia, on jubilee@ncca.org.au .
   • Sign the IMF 60 th birthday card calling for the IMF and World Bank to drop the debt. To do this go to: www.jubileeusa.org/sendacard.htm .

India - Boys of Orissa

Mathematics

In order to help countries meet the MDGs it is important to map the progress of the goals and targets. The following website www.un.org/millenniu m goals/MDG-Page1.pdf charts the progress of the world on target number 1 – to halve the proportion of people in the world living on less than $1 per day. This target is aimed at helping achieve Goal 1 – to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Go to the website and review the charts. Answer the following questions:

• In which regions have the targets largely been met?
• In which regions are the targets falling short?
• Copy and complete the following table. To find the figure for the final column, subtract the target % from the 1999 %. For example, in Middle East and North Africa the target is 1% and the % in 1999 was 2%, therefore the % that still needs to be made up is 1% (2 – 1 =1).

• In which regions have the percentage of people living below $1 per day increased between 1990 and 1999?
• Which region has the highest percentage of people living on under $1 a day? What was the percentage in 1999?
• Which region has the most improvements to make?

Religion

The following prayer is known as 'The Serenity Prayer':

God grant me
The Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference

• Read the prayer and re-write it in your own words.
•   List three things that you wish to change in the world.
• List three things you need to accept that you cannot change.
•   List three things you wish to and can change in your life.
• For each of the things you wish to change in your life, write a goal.
• Choose one goal. Write down three specific targets that you need to meet in order to meet your goal. For each target include a time frame.

Community and Parish Groups

Help promote and raise awareness of MDGs by have an MDG screensaver. To download and apply, go to the following website: www.undp.org/mdg/screensaver.html

Go to the following site and read the Caritas Internationalis flyer 'International Campaign on the Millennium Development Goals':
www.caritas.org/Upload/C/CIDSEMDGflyerFINAL24Sept.doc
Scroll down to the section entitled ' How will the MDGs be achieved?' The key point to this section is that MDGs will only be met if the responsibility of meeting them is shared. What is the true meaning of shared responsibility? What can you do to share this responsibility?

Read the address to the World Social Forum, Mumbai , India  
' How to Distribute Wealth and Power Globally? Unequal Distribution of Wealth as a Power Imbalance Problem' by Duncan MacLaren, Caritas Internationalis Secretary General, by clicking on the following site: www.caritas.org/jumpNews.asp?idChannel=20&idLang=ENG&idUser=0&idNews=1824

Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the following statements that MacLaren made:

• "The unequal distribution of wealth is above all an element in a story of human beings not being allowed to be all that they should be."
•   "Addressing the inequality of power matters as much as addressing the inequality of money. Civil society has to convince governments of the need to redistribute power so that poor people can participate in shaping policies that affect them."
• "Inequality is compounded by multinational companies such as Niké which gave a basketball player who was advertising their wares more money than the 12,000 Indonesian women who had made their product."

Other Useful links:

www.cafod.org.uk/resources/schoolsteachers/resource_packs has excellent worksheets and more teaching resources to use in the classroom.

www.undg.org documents how the MDGs are being localised within countries, provides access to a civil society handbook for Africa and a plain language guide on the MDGs. Click on Implementing the Millennium Development Goals.

www.unmillenniumproject.org provides all related information on the MDG research initiative.

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.shtml provides general information on MDG activities, including press releases and reports from the Secretary-General; webcasts of UN/MDG events; fact sheets on the MDGs and the role of the UN; country reports and data and statistics on the achievement of the MDGs.

www.choike.org this website is compiling a comprehensive list of articles and resources being produced by civil society and the international community on the MDGs.