CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EAST AFRICA

(CUEA)
FOCALTY OF LAW

UNIT TITLE : social & developmental studies

UNIT CODE : Gs (106)
SUBJECT : assignment
NAME :
REG NO : 1025997

THE QUESTION:
If millennium development goals (MDGs) were good for Africa, then the sustainable
development goals (SDGs) will be even better. Discuss?
Dateline is 26/February/2016

Millennium Development Goals

introduction
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the eight international development goals that
were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the
adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 189 United Nations member states
at the time (there are 193 currently), and at least 23 international organizations, committed to
help achieve the following Millennium Development Goals by 2015:
To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
To achieve universal primary education
To promote gender equality and empower women
To reduce child mortality
To improve maternal health
To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
To ensure environmental sustainability
To develop a global partnership for development
Each goal has specific targets, and dates for achieving those targets. To accelerate progress, the
G8 finance ministers agreed in June 2005 to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cancel $40 to
$55 billion in debt owed by members of the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) to allow
them to redirect resources to programs for improving health and education and for alleviating
poverty.
Critics of the MDGs complained of a lack of analysis and justification behind the chosen
objectives, and the difficulty or lack of measurements for some goals and uneven progress,
among others. Although developed countries' aid for achieving the MDGs rose during the
challenge period, more than half went for debt relief and much of the remainder going towards
natural disaster relief and military aid, rather than further development.
As of 2013, progress towards the goals was uneven. Some countries achieved many goals, while
others were not on track to realize any. A UN conference in September 2010 reviewed progress
to date and concluded with the adoption of a global plan to achieve the eight goals by their
target date. New commitments targeted women's and children's health, and new initiatives in
the worldwide battle against poverty, hunger and disease.
Among the non-governmental organizations assisting were the United Nations Millennium
Campaign, the Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc., the Global Poverty Project, the Micah
Challenge, The Youth in Action EU Programme, "Cartoons in Action" video project and the 8
Visions of Hope global art project.

Millennium Summit.
Preparations for the 2000 Millennium Summit launched with the report of the Secretary-
General entitled, "We the people: The Role of the United Nations in the Twenty-First Century".
Additional input was prepared by the Millennium Forum, which brought together
representatives of over 1,000 non-governmental and civil society organizations from more than
100 countries. The Forum met in May to conclude a two-year consultation process covering
issues such as poverty eradication, environmental protection, human rights and protection of
the vulnerable.
MDGs derive from earlier development targets, where world leaders adopted the United
Nations Millennium Declaration. The approval of the Millennium Declaration was the main
outcome of the Millennium Summit.
The MDGs originated from the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Declaration
asserted that every individual has dignity; and hence, the right to freedom, equality, a basic
standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and violence and encourages tolerance
and solidarity. The MDGs set concrete targets and indicators for poverty reduction in order to
achieve the rights set forth in the Declaration.

Precursors.
The Brahimi Report provided the basis of the goals in the area of peace and security. [citation
needed]
The Millennium Summit Declaration was, however, only part of the origins of the MDGs. More
ideas came from Adam Figueroa, [citation needed] Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A series of UN-led
conferences in the 1990s focused on issues such as children, nutrition, human rights and
women. The OECD criticized major donors for reducing their levels of Official Development
Assistance (ODA). UN Secretary General Kofi Annan signed a report titled, We the Peoples: The
Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century. The OECD had formed its International
Development Goals (IDGs). The two efforts were combined for the World Bank's 2001 meeting
to form the MDGs.

Human capital, infrastructure and human rights

The MDGs emphasized three areas: human capital, infrastructure and human rights (social,
economic and political), with the intent of increasing living standards.[5] Human capital
objectives include nutrition, healthcare (including child mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, and reproductive health) and education. Infrastructure objectives include access to
safe drinking water, energy and modern information/communication technology; increased
farm outputs using sustainable practices; transportation; and environment. Human rights
objectives include empowering women, reducing violence, increasing political voice, ensuring
equal access to public services and increasing security of property rights. The goals were
intended to increase an individual’s human capabilities and "advance the means to a productive
life". The MDGs emphasize that each nation's policies should be tailored to that country's
needs; therefore most policy suggestions are general.

Partnership.
MDGs emphasize the role of developed countries in aiding developing countries, as outlined in
Goal Eight, which sets objectives and targets for developed countries to achieve a "global
partnership for development" by supporting fair trade, debt relief, increasing aid, access to
affordable essential medicines and encouraging technology transfer. Thus developing nations
ostensibly became partners with developed nations in the struggle to reduce world poverty.
Goals

A poster at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, New York, USA, showing the
Millennium Development Goals.
The MDGs were developed out of several commitments set forth in the Millennium
Declaration, signed in September 2000. There are eight goals with 21 targets, and a series of
measurable health indicators and economic indicators for each target.
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Target 1A: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a
day
Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People
GDP Growth per Employed Person
Employment Rate
Proportion of employed population below $1.25 per day (PPP values)
Proportion of family-based workers in employed population
Target 1C: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age
Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys
Enrollment in primary education
Completion of primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005,
and at all levels by 2015
Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates
Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Under-five mortality rate
Infant (under 1) mortality rate
Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Maternal mortality ratio
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Adolescent birth rate
Antenatal care coverage
Unmet need for family planning
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
HIV prevalence among population aged 15–24 years
Condom use at last high-risk sex
Proportion of population aged 15–24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS
Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need
it
Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to antiretroviral drugs
Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major
diseases
Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets
Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-malarial drugs
Incidence, prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment
Short Course)
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and
programs; reverse loss of environmental resources
Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
Proportion of land area covered by forest
CO2 emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)
Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits
Proportion of total water resources used
Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
Proportion of species threatened with extinction
Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe
drinking water and basic sanitation
Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation
Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100
million slum-dwellers
Proportion of urban population living in slums
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and
financial system
Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction – both
nationally and internationally
Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for
HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA (Official Development
Assistance) for countries committed to poverty reduction
Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island
developing States
Through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly
Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through
national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
Some of the indicators listed below are monitored separately for the least developed countries
(LDCs), Africa, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.
Official development assistance (ODA):
Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC donors’ GNI
Proportion of total sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services (basic
education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)
Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied
ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their GNIs
ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs
Market access:
Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing
countries and from LDCs, admitted free of duty
Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and
clothing from developing countries
Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP
Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity
Debt sustainability:
Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision points and number that have
reached their HIPC completion points (cumulative)
Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$
Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services
Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable,
essential drugs in developing countries
Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis
Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new
technologies, especially information and communications
Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population
Personal computers in use per 100 population
Internet users per 100 Population.

AFRICA

. Although most African countries are off-track on most of the MDGs, Africa has, since the mid-
1990s, arguably been making the greatest progress towards the goals. The poverty rate has
been declining at about one percentage point a year. There is some evidence that child
mortality in Africa, after stagnating for some time, is beginning to fall sharply. Countries such as
Rwanda, Ethiopia, Gambia and Malawi have seen declines of 25-40 percent in under-five
mortality in the last decade. And in primary completion, if you take 1999 as the starting point,
the fastest progress has been in Africa and South Asia. While this has to do with the fact that
these two regions had the lowest levels of primary completion, it is still significant that, unlike
previous periods, the growth rate in Africa is the highest.
. Africa’s progress in the MDGs since the mid-1990s was due to economic growth and improved
service delivery. Economic growth accelerated after 1995. It was sustained for a decade, and
accelerated even further until the onset of the global economic crisis of 2008. Not only was
Africa’s average economic growth during this period about 5 percent a year (rising to 6.2
percent in 2007), but it was relatively widespread.

Some 22 non-oil-exporting African countries enjoyed better-than-four-percent average annual

growth from 1998-2008. The growth, in turn, was due to a combination of increased external
resources (aid, debt relief, remittances and private capital flows), high commodity prices and a
buoyant global economy, and improved economic policies.

Secondly, recognizing that money alone would not deliver the MDGs, some African countries
introduced programs to improve the delivery of basic services. Rwanda’s “paying-for-
performance” scheme that increased incentives for health workers to provide services
contributed to the country’s significant improvement in health indicators, as shown by
comparing facilities that were and were not enrolled in the scheme.

. While Africa was probably hardest-hit by the global economic crisis, the response of African
policymakers helped to dampen the impact, and set the stage for the continent to benefit from
a global recovery.

In addition to facing a sharp drop in growth (from 5 percent in 2008 to 1.7 percent in 2009),
throwing 7-10 million more Africans into poverty, and leading to the deaths of 30-50,000
additional infants before their first birthday, African policymakers were confronted with the
fact that the payoffs to the economic reforms they had been pursuing over the past decade had
suddenly declined.

Rather than slowing or reversing these reforms, however, they by and large continued to
pursue prudent economic policies during the crisis. Those countries that had fiscal space
(thanks to prudent policies before the crisis), such as Tanzania and Zambia, ran modest fiscal
deficits; those that did not, such as Ghana, contracted their fiscal deficits. Some countries
accelerated their reforms. As a result, economic growth is expected to be about 4 percent this
year, which is still below pre-crisis levels but certainly a faster turnaround than Africa registered
in previous crises.

Putting these points together, I conclude that, with a major effort by African governments, civil
society, the private sector and the international community, Africa can meet the Millennium
Development Goals, if not by 2015 then soon thereafter.
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The first draft of the world’s new development agenda – the Sustainable Development Goals –
takes into account Africa’s interests, but not in the same way as the expiring Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) once did.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are expected to shape the global agenda on
economic, social and environmental development for the next 15 years. They are to replace the
MDGs, which reach their deadline in 2015. Based on comparison with a key African Union
position paper, Africa is getting what it asked for from the UN General Assembly document that
proposes the new set of global goals.

Africa’s ‘special needs’ were addressed in the year 2000 Millennium Declaration, from which
the MDGs were drawn. Even though the eight MDGs do not mention Africa, their emphasis on
eliminating extreme poverty rates, reducing child mortality, promoting gender equality, halting
the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and providing universal primary education
by 2015 means that they target the world’s poorest – many of whom are in Africa.

In their current form, the SDGs are more focused on building productive capacity and give more
weight to economic and environmental factors, which are also key features of the ‘Common
African Position (CAP) on the post-2015 development agenda’. The CAP was the consensus of
African leaders, civil society and the private sector.

The congruence between African recommendations for the post-MDGs era and the framework
accepted by the UN General Assembly as the basis for 2015 negotiations on the final shape of
the SDGs may be an indication that the rest of the world, especially other developing countries,
shares the same concerns as Africa.

It may also mean influence. With a population of more than a billion and a new venue as a
sought-after investment destination with economic growth rates rivaling those of any other
continent, Africa may be moving from a familiar position of receiving advice to one of
dispensing it.
Speaking in New York in October, the head of the New Partnership for African Development
(NEPAD), Ibrahim Mayaki, checked off some of the features of the CAP that also appear in the
draft SDGs and on which Africa will need to rely: capacity development enhanced; gender
issues tackled, including empowering the small-scale farmers who are women to ensure food
security; jobs and a sense of social ownership found for youth; greater investment in research
and technology.

“We should think about the private sector, including small and medium-size firms, where
innovation is taking place,” Dr. Mayaki said.

Africa’s common position

In early 2014, around the time the CAP was drawn up, a working group of the UN General
Assembly was starting on a draft to fulfill objectives set at the 2012 Rio+20 summit on
sustainable development.

The Rio text advocated for a continuation of the MDGs, to sustain progress on living standards
and to catch up where achievements had fallen short. But given the ‘sustainable development’
mantra of the goals and deep concern about eco-systems and climate change, it was certain
that environment would figure more prominently in the SDGs. Concerns over climate, drought
and land use feature prominently in Africa’s position paper as well. What stands out in both the
African position and the General Assembly working group is the emphasis on the economy and
empowerment.

“The CAP provides important input for the next stage of the intergovernmental process,” as the
UN seeks to finalize the SDGs by September 2015, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic
and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo said in an interview with Africa Renewal.

Both the SDGs and MDGs place poverty eradication at the top of the agenda. This was
considered by Africa and the developing world in general to be a bedrock requirement, at least
in part to ensure that the strengthening of environmental considerations does not signal a
retreat from poverty eradication.
In fact, Mr. Wu says, the balanced SDG package is effective in that it addresses poverty in terms
of vulnerability of the poor to environmental degradation and through inclusiveness and social
justice, as well as through economic advance. “I would say the African countries especially will
benefit,” he added.

Peace, security and governance

Another feature of the plan for the SDGs as distinct from the MDGs is the grouping of peace
and security issues under the development banner. The reasoning is that conflict impacts
whether countries advance in their development or not. For Africa, putting peace and security
into the SDGs directs attention to conflict-preventing factors such as equity, inclusiveness and
rule of law.

Finance matters

As opposed to the North-to-South direction of the global partnership laid out in the MDGs, the
SDGs will apply equally to all countries. One question is whether Africa, which has long been an
area of concentration for official development assistance (ODA), will see less incoming aid.

But Africa’s position as privileged beneficiary of aid may already be slipping. According to the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), official bilateral aid to Africa
fell by 10 % in real terms in 2012, and by about 5% in 2013, despite an increase in ODA to all
developing countries for an all-time-high in the latter year. In Africa, incoming foreign direct
investment now surpasses ODA.

A simple substitution of private resources for public funds may not be the best way to
characterize African options. The Common African Position takes into account a blend of
finance sources. These include improving traditionally low domestic tax collection rates,
staunching the flow of illicit flight capital and recovering stolen assets, tapping global financial
markets, stepping up intra-African trade, South-South cooperation and public-private
partnerships.
REFENCES: http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2014/sustainable-
development-goals-new-targets-hold-promise-africa#sthash.FS1IZCye.dpuf
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/millennium-Dedelopment-goals