Putting the World Back Together - UNDP Annual Report 2003 by Mark Malloch Brown 2:09pm 8th Jul, 2003   Human Development Report 2003 urges global compact to achieve Millennium goals    Tuesday, 8 July 2003: Rich and poor nations can work together to lift millions out of severe poverty and achieve other ambitious targets for 2015 through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), says the Human Development Report 2003, released in Dublin, Ireland, today.    The Dublin event precedes the launch of the report at the African Union Summit in Mozambiques capital Maputo on 10 July, symbolizing the North-South partnership needed to achieve the MDGs and ties between Ireland and Mozambique.    The publication was presented at a news conference featuring Bertie Ahern, the Prime Minister of Ireland; Bono, lead singer of Irelands U2, who has campaigned for debt relief for the poorest countries; and Jeffrey Sachs, economist and guest editor of the report, who heads the Millennium Project to recommend strategies to reach the MDGs. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, the reports principal author, and UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown also participated.    The report says that the pledge by world leaders at the 2000 Millennium Summit to achieve the MDGs can be met, but only through a compact whereby poor countries pursue wide-ranging reforms focusing on the goals, while wealthy nations dismantle unfair trade barriers — such as US$300 billion in annual agricultural subsidies, increase aid and relieve heavy debt burdens on the poorest countries. Leaders of the wealthiest countries, the G-8, endorsed the MDGs anew last month at the Evian Summit.    We will play a constructive role, with our European Union partners, in fashioning a new world trade agreement, said Mr. Ahern. We will seek to ensure that the crippling burden of poor-country debt remains at the centre of the development agenda. And we will continue to press the cause of development and human rights in every available forum.    At the Millennium Summit, Mr. Ahern pledged to double his countrys development assistance to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2007. Ireland has so far raised its aid to 0.41 per cent of GDP and all major political parties support the 2007 target.    Mozambique, a main beneficiary of Irish aid, is to receive 28 million euros this year under a bilateral assistance programme that began in 1996. The Irish and Mozambican governments have targeted the assistance towards projects to help progress towards the MDGs, focusing on education, farming, and reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.    The report says that success by China and India puts the global target of halving severe poverty by 2015 within reach and identifies 59 priority countries where, unless urgent action is taken, the MDGs will not be met. Of these, 24 countries have a high incidence of HIV/AIDS, 13 are embroiled in conflicts and 31 have unusually high foreign debts.    The reports annual Human Development Index, ranking 175 countries on the basis of life expectancy, income per person and education, shows 21 countries experienced declines in the 1990s. Such declines are unusual, noted Mr. Malloch Brown, saying they call for urgent action on health and education, as well as income levels, in these countries.    - If rich countries and poor countries alike set their minds to the practical tasks recommended by the report, we can foresee the absolute end of poverty within a generation, said Mr. Sachs.    Ireland has blazed a trail for other donors, said Mr. Malloch Brown, by boosting its foreign aid, with focus on the neediest countries. He called for rapid progress on trade and debt relief by wealthy countries, -helping break down barriers that keep developing countries out of rich markets and allowing them to devote more of their own scarce resources to development priorities rather than repaying international creditors.    According to Ms. Fukuda-Parr, there is nothing inevitable about human poverty. - History shows us what is possible: over the past three decades, life expectancy in poor countries increased by eight years and illiteracy was cut in half, she noted    Intoduction: For the international community—and the United Nations system—2002 was a time of enormous challenges. A year that began hopefully with the establishment of a new government in war torn Afghanistan,supported with unprecedented speed and scale by the UN and its partners, ended on a much gloomier note.    The build-up to a new conflict in Iraq both deeply divided global public opinion and posed real threats to a broader vision of multilateral responses to global crises. On the larger development front, we witnessed the relentless spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases worldwide, the appearance of new conflicts and famine in Africa, renewed instability in some democracies in Latin America, and economic setbacks across many of the Arab States and parts of Central Europe.    But despite these trends, and outside the spotlight on the Middle East, the longer term global agenda for broader prosperity and security moved forward. At two historic United Nations conferences—in Monterrey, Mexico and Johannesburg, South Africa—rich and poor countries together not only reaffirmed their commitment to the eight Millennium Development Goals, but also mapped out a way to accelerate sustainable development across the globe based on a partnership of mutual accountability. In an early tangible sign of that commitment, donors announced the first significant increase in official development assistance in 30 years, a turnaround that has already resulted in total aid climbing by almost five percent in 2002. The bulk of the new money will support those developing countries undertaking good faith political, social and economic reforms aimed at consolidating democracy and spurring economic growth.    Of course much more is needed—not just in terms of aid, but through broader actions in trade; in technology transfers, including essential medicines; and in debt relief. Yet it is a promising start, as long as the funds flow mainly toward the poorest people, rather than being siphoned off to emerging crises such as Iraq. And the MDGs will prove to be the critical building blocks, unlocking enormous political energy across the developing world and helping focus domestic debate on issues like how to raise and strategically reallocate—more domestic resources for development priorities. Unlike previous development visions that were mainly accessible to technocrats, the MDGs encapsulate the most basic aspirations of people everywhere, from health to education to prosperity. Timebound and measurable, they track progress in real time and provide data that drives actions and results.    Over the last three years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has integrated the goals across our work, and, through our leadership of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), coordinated the research, measurement and campaign efforts of the UN system. This has helped create a harmonized approach to UN development activities, and offered a new framework for stronger partnerships with governments, the Bretton Woods Institutions, bilateral organizations, civil society and the private sector.    Just as important, it has provided added impetus to UNDP’s ongoing internal reform efforts. Today’s UNDP is a more streamlined, results-oriented and connected organization.We are better attuned to the needs of our partners—as this report testifies and independent surveys confirm. And through the power of our stronger,more efficient networks, we can tap the full range of UNDP’s global resources in addressing development challenges anywhere in the world.    In the months and years to come, the real task for UNDP—as for the entire UN system—is to build on these successes and help our partners implement the Monterrey and Johannesburg agendas. By doing so, we can demonstrate how global challenges—whether related to security or poverty, disease or environmental degradation—can only be successfully addressed in a multilateral framework, one that fosters common action to meet our shared goal of a better, safer,more prosperous world.    Click on the link below to access the report. Visit the related web page
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