It was listening to Stephen Lewis' Massey Lecture series (also in book format) on my way to The Gambia last November that I first became familiar with the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs were adopted by the UN in 2000 with target achievement date of 2015. We are midpoint in our journey.
Today in a hop-skip-and-jump, I came across the 2007status update (chart or report). The report suggests that progress has been made in the areas of extreme poverty and childhood mortality. There is still much to be achieved in the areas of pregnancy and childbirth, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and global warming.
In 2002, world leaders pledged they would commit 0.7% of their national income to foreign aid. Only five countries to date have done so. Canada, the US and the UK are among those who have not yet done so. (A few more quick facts on international aid here)
The MDGs
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
:: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day
:: Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
:: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
:: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015
4. Reduce childhood mortality
:: Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five
5. Improve maternal health
:: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
:: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
:: Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
:: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
:: Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
:: Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020
8. Develop a global partnership for development
:: Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory, includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction— nationally and internationally
:: Address the least developed countries' special needs. This includes tariff- and quota-free access for their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction
:: Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing States
:: Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt problems through national and international measures to make debt sustainable in the long term
:: In cooperation with the developing countries, develop decent and productive work for youth
:: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
:: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies— especially information and communications technologies
If you decided to keep reading, I assume the topic is of some interest to you. Seeing as there is some interest, why not turn interest into action? Too difficult? Maybe not. Perhaps you could tell someone else about the MDGs and the progress that has been made. You could sponsor a child. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. At KIVA, you can partner with others to provide micro-loans for entrepreneurs. Write a letter to your politician (MP, MLA, Senator, Representative). Join a cause like UNICEF, MCC, Amnesty International or GCAP. Park your car, take public transit, walk, don't drink bottled water, reduce then recycle, downsize, live below your means, meet your neighbours, smile.