CALAYCA, JAHARA O.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that all 191 UN
member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. The United Nations
Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000 commits world leaders to combat
poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination
against women. The MDGs are derived from this Declaration, and all have specific targets
and indicators.

The Eight Millennium Development Goals are:

MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

The target of reducing extreme poverty rates – people living on just $1.25 a day – by half
was met five years ahead of the 2015 deadline. Globally the number of people living in
extreme poverty has fallen from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015.

However, target of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger has narrowly
been missed. The proportion of undernourished people in the developing regions has fallen
from 23.3 per cent in 1990 to 12.9 per cent in 2014.

MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Primary school enrolment figures have shown an impressive rise, but the goal of achieving
universal primary education has just been missed. The primary school enrolment rate in
developing regions reached 91 per cent this year, up from 83 per cent in 2000.

MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

About two two-thirds of developing countries achieved gender parity in primary education.
Progress has been particularly strong in Southern Asia. Only 74 girls were enrolled in primary
school for every 100 boys in 1990. Today, 103 girls are enrolled for every 100 boys.

MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality

The global under-five mortality rate has declined by more than half since 1990 – dropping
from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births. This falls short of the targeted drop of two-thirds.

In practical terms this means 16,000 children under-five continue to die every day from
preventable causes. A terrible reality made worse by the fact we know what each one of
these major killers are, and what can be done to thwart them.

MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health

Since 1990, the maternal mortality ratio has been cut nearly in half. This is an impressive
result, but as well with goal 4 it falls short of the two-thirds reduction that was aimed for.
There were an estimated 289,000 maternal deaths in 2013.

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

CALAYCA, JAHARA O.

The results with MDG 5 are mixed. The target of halting and beginning to reverse the spread
of HIV/Aids has not been met – although the number of new HIV infections fell by 40%
between 2000 and 2013.

According to the UN, over 6.2 million malaria deaths have been averted between 2000 and
2015, primarily of children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. The global malaria
incidence rate has fallen by an estimated 37 per cent and the mortality rate by 58 per cent

MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainably

Between 1990 and 2015, 2.6 billion people gained access to improved drinking water,
meaning the target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe water was
achieved. Worldwide, 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation.

MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Official development assistance from wealthy countries to developing countries increased

by 66 per cent in real terms between 2000 and 2014, reaching $135.2 billion.

The MDGs are inter-dependent; all the MDG influence health, and health influences all
the MDGs. For example, better health enables children to learn and adults to earn.
Gender equality is essential to the achievement of better health. Reducing poverty,
hunger and environmental degradation positively influences, but also depends on, better
health.

The Millennium Development Goals in the Philippines

The MDGs are eight concrete and interconnected goals, with a corresponding set of
measurable targets and indicators. This development framework represents a
remarkable global partnership between poor countries that pledge to govern better
and invest in human development and rich countries that promise to support them.

In the Philippines, the MDGs have been tightly integrated into national development
plans by the Government, and utilized to monitor their implementation. The MDGs
have also been broadly adopted by all relevant development organizations, from local
government units (LGUs) to civil society organizations (CSOs.) They serve as a
common foundation for development, resulting in better alignment of interventions
and coordination, allocation, and use of resources.

Yet, despite strong institutional support, overall progress on the MDGs is not
encouraging. Interventions for poverty, education, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, and
the environment need to be accelerated, while addressing the glaring disparities in
rates of progress across regions. It is clear that if success is to be achieved, efforts need
to be redoubled; current initiatives in all areas must be scaled-up, greater resources
must be mobilized while more efficiently utilizing existing resources, and stronge r
advocacy and capacity must be developed, especially at the local level .