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The Millennium Development Goals: the fight against global poverty and inequality
The Australian Government is committed to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals - agreed targets set by the world's nations to reduce poverty by 2015.
These include halving extreme poverty, getting all children into school, closing the gap on gender inequality, saving lives lost to disease and the lack of available health care, and protecting the environment. These are achievable commitments to improve the well-being of the world's poorest people.
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Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
- Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
- Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
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Achieve Universal Primary Education
- Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
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Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
- Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015
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Reduce Child Mortality
- Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
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Improve Maternal Health
- Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
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Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
- Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
- Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
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Ensure Environmental Sustainability
- Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources
- Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
- Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
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Develop a Global Partnership for Development
- Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction; both nationally and internationally)
- Address the special needs of the Least
Developed Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries' exports, enhanced program of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries [HIPCs] and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction)
- Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions)
- Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
- In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for 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
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Progress towards the MDGs
Eight years later we are at the half-way point. There has been significant progress, but significant challenges remain.
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are home to three-quarters of the world's poor. These regions are struggling to get children into school and save lives.
East Asia has experienced the most rapid poverty reduction-driven by rapid and sustained growth, notably in China. Pockets of extreme poverty persist throughout this region.
The Pacific region is lagging. More than 3 million people are living in extreme poverty and as many as one million children are not in school. Poverty is concentrated in Kiribati, PNG, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.
Key facts on the MDGs:
- Significant progress since 1990:
- 280 million fewer people living in extreme poverty
- 40 million more children in school
- 3 million more children survive each year
- 2 million people now receive HIV/AIDS treatment
- Formidable challenges ahead:
- 1 billion people in extreme poverty
- 75 million children not in school
- 10 million children die each year
- 550,000 women die from treatable complications of pregnancy and birth
- Over 33 million people infected with HIV/AIDS, 2 million die each year
- Half of the developing world lacks sanitation.
Source: Global Monitoring Report 2008 [external link]
Global partnership on development
Rich countries, including Australia, have pledged to provide more and better development assistance and fairer trade to help countries that are committed to poverty reduction and sustainable development.
According to the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC), there has been a steady increase in aid in the last decade.
- Rich countries' development assistance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has more than doubled between 2000 to 2006, but the ODA-to-GNI ratio-a measure of aid effort-was lower than in 1990 and programmable aid has fallen.
- Global aid is also getting better. It is more flexible and aligned to national priorities; more selective-responsive to needs and quality of policies and institutions.
While multilateral trade negotiations have not yet delivered tangible results, market access for developing countries has improved slightly.
Australia is doubling the aid program
AusAID is the Australian Government's lead agency in the global fight to eradicate extreme poverty. In the face of substantial challenges, not least in the Asia-Pacific region, the Australian Government is intensifying efforts to achieve the MDGs. As the largest donor country in the region, Australia has a special responsibility to assist developing countries in the Asia Pacific region to achieve the MDGs.
In May this year, Prime Minister Rudd announced that Australia has joined the MDG Call to Action. The Call to Action aims to galvanise widespread support, momentum and concrete action for the MDGs.
- Prime Minister Rudd has committed to increasing Australia's aid to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015. More and bettter assistance will be provided to lagging regions-including a re-engagement in Africa and an elevated engagement in the Pacific.
- Australia will strengthen its development assistance activities to get children into primary school in East Asia and the Pacific.
- Australia has joined the International Health Partnership, to help build sustainable health systems in developing countries and accelerate progress to meet the health MDGs.
(For details of other aid activities see About the Australian Aid Program)
Effectiveness
Essential to increasing Australia's development assistance to implement the MDGs is improving the effectiveness of Australia's aid program.
Beyond 2015 there will be more to do
Fulfilling the MDGs is both important and achievable, and it would still leave a large agenda. Reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger would be a remarkable achievement, but millions of people would continue to live in poverty.
- It is estimated that more than 600 million people would still be living in extreme poverty, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
- While many more children would be in school, there will still be huge gaps in the quality of education and challenges in access to early learning and secondary education opportunities. Gaps would also persist in child and maternal health.
- Climate change will continue to loom large as a threat to long-term development globally.
The Australian Government is both intensifying efforts to support achievement of the MDGs, and planning for the post-2015 challenges.
Recent speeches
Links
July 2008
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