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Article for CHOGM - final

By Eveline Herfkens, Executive Coordinator of the U.N.Millennium Development Goals Campaign

I.Introduction

When 189 Governments from the North and the South, signed the MillenniumDeclaration at the UN’s Millennium General Assembly in September 2000, there was asense of urgency. Urgency to ‘

free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of themare currently subjected’

. They committed to work together to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable world for all its citizens by 2015 and they adopted the eightMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) that put a people-centered development at theheart of the global and national agendas.The Millennium Development Goals committed rich and poor countries to eradicateextreme poverty and hunger, eliminate gender inequality and environmental degradation,and ensure access to education, healthcare and clean water, all by 2015.The MDGs brought together for the first time a shared vision, representing a global partnership based on shared responsibility by all countries, rich and poor. Developingcountries pledged to improve governance and reform policies, channeling their resourcestowards the first seven Goals. Rich countries, for their part, promised to deliver more andmore effective aid, and to reform of their trade policies to enable poor countries and people to earn their own way out of poverty..The Goals explicitly recognize that eradicating poverty can be achieved only if governments of both rich and poor countries live up to their promises. Terms for this“global deal” were reaffirmed at the Financing for Development Summit in Monterrey in2001 and in the 2005 U.N. Summit.The developing countries have primary responsibility for achieving the first seven goals:to reduce poverty, to increase literacy, to improve health services etc. But rich countriesacknowledged in Goal 8 that poor countries can not achieve the goals unless richcountries increase and improve the effectiveness of aid and change the rules of trade tofoster development.From a global perspective, progress in achieving the Goals is promising: a significantnumber of countries are in the process of achieving at least partially the objectives set bythe Goals while some countries in East Asia and Latin America are actually surpassingthe objectives set. On current trends, the first Goal, regarding poverty, will be met at theglobal level by 2015. This would be a striking success, even if this good progress at theglobal level largely reflects progress in the populous countries of India and China.Progress on the second Goal (education) has also been good, even if not sufficient.

DRAFTMay 17, 2005

However, there are some targets on which we are lagging seriously behind, and the worst of theseis the child mortality Goal.

Moreover, the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is particularlyworrisome. If current trends continue, this continent, on average, will not achieve theGoals for another century. But even here, some of the poorest countries are on track for achievement of several Goals. Success stories can simply be explained as cases wherethe global compact is implemented.The government concerned has reasonably good policies and rich countries have been relatively generous and helpful with aid and debtrelief, backing their poverty reduction strategies. So the global deal can work…. if both parties live up to their commitments…

II. Responsibilities of Developing Countries

As the primary responsibility is with developing countries, let me first focus on their partin the “Global Deal”. Achievement of the Millennium Goals will not happen unlessdeveloping country governments take full responsibility for their actions and their governments work properly. Even in the most aid-dependent countries aid is a minor partof overall development finance. The way a country spends its OWN resources is muchmore relevant for the achievement of the goals.Given the wide diversity between countries, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe, and priorities have to be set locally. But the following issues, on which even the poorestcountry can improve its performance, are key.

1. The Budget

Accountable, transparent and effective management of public financial resources iscritical. According to recent World Bank estimates approximately 5% of Global GDP stilldisappear through corruption and mismanagement. This figure is much higher indeveloping countries that are lagging in achieving the goals.The goals need to be reflected in the Poverty Reduction Strategies or NationalDevelopment Plans and these, in turn should be aligned with the budget process.In too many developing countries public spending actually benefits primarily the rich,– not the poor. If the Millennium Goals are to be achieved policies need to be pro-poor,gender-sensitive, as well as allow for sufficient public expenditures for basic socialservices.Public finance is not just about expenditures. It is also important to maximize revenues,e.g. by fair tax legislation and effective tax collection. Domestic revenue mobilization isthe only sustainable long term option for financing development

Resource-rich countriesneed to maximize the revenues they obtain from the exploitation of their exhaustiblenatural resources. An important step they could take in that direction is to join theExtractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) ensuring disclosure of all revenuesfrom multinational mining operations.

2.Sectoral Policies

Sectoral policies need to be translated into effective service delivery (in health, education,sanitation, water, etc.) for all citizens all over the country. It is also important to ensurethat all policies (including trade and tax), do not discriminate against the rural poor andthat the government invests enough in rural development. Small farmers need support toget access to credit and markets. And we must not forget that trade policies need to besufficiently pro-poor. In some developing countries protective trade barriers in fact protect the rich, at the expense of the poor.

3. Legislation

In many developing countries inheritance, property and tax laws urgently need to bereviewed to ensure women can fully participate and contribute to development. Also, inorder for poor people to lift themselves out of poverty by unleashing their entrepreneurialspirit, legal reform is needed to improve the business climate particularly for domesticinvestors. In many developing countries the volume of capital flight is actually larger than that of aid received.

4. Governance

Last but not least, is the cross-cutting issue of improved governance to create the capablestate needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Action is required toimprove the quality and efficiency of the public sector; by modernizing and reforming the bureaucracy; by decentralization through empowerment of local authorities; and byensuring that political processes are inclusive, not just politically representative throughelected parliaments. Robust public participation is also a requirement, through the media and civil society, particularly groups that give voice to minorities and women that are at risk of missing thegoals. Experience has shown that the greatest success stories are where the MillenniumGoals have been debated, adapted, and owned locally. This means that they have become part of a national vision for 2015, not just by the government but by the public at large.Only then the goals can be successfully integrated into national plans, poverty reductionstrategies, sectoral policies and national and sub-national budgets; only then can they besuccessfully mainstreamed into the sinews of government at every level, ensuring that allresources (human and financial, external and domestic) can be mobilized and invested inachieving the goals.The ultimate test of course is for these policies and plans to be translated into realservices and benefits at the local level. Active participation of citizens and their organizations at both the planning and implementation stages can help to ensuretransparent and accountable government mechanisms that are responsive to the needs of all sections of the population. Only then can corruption be effectively fought and thehuge “integrity dividend” be redeployed for achievement of the goals.

III. Responsibilities of Rich Countries