Saving the world just got harder

It was a global compact aimed at saving the world: high-minded targets that would lift millions out of poverty for the new millennium.

But as world leaders gather at a summit in New York tomorrow, figures suggest the chances of meeting any of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by the target date of 2015 are remote.

The targets, set in 2005 - on poverty, education, women's rights, child mortality, maternal health, the spread of HIV, the environment and aid - were always ambitious.

Thanks to the global recession, and complacency from many of the 189 countries that signed up, the interim targets that were set are in many instances still far from being met, which means that progress may slip by as much as a decade.

Progress has been even slower for women, who continue to bear the brunt of poverty and its far-reaching effect Many rich nations that pledged aid are reneging on their promises, with a knock-on effect on the other seven targets. Overall donations in 2010 are estimated at US$108 billion ($148 million), a shortfall of US$18 billion against commitments made in 2005.

Claire Godfrey, a senior policy adviser for Oxfam, said: "We're disappointed; it all seems a bit half-hearted now." Yasmin Ahmad, who manages data collection at the OECD, said: "It is disappointing to see promises not fulfilled. The EU made a promise of donating 0.51 per cent of GNI for 2010. Greece, Germany, Austria, France, Portugal and Italy will not meet that. Japan made a promise to give an extra US$10 billion by 2010, and it will have fallen short by US$3.6 billion."

Experts argue that lacklustre progress is not wholly due to economics. The seventh millennium goal, to ensure environmental stability, has failed so far as it requires fundamental social change.

Andy Atkins, a director of Friends of the Earth, said: "Goal seven is definitely the forgotten goal. But if you trash your environment, you trash your economy and you trash livelihoods."

Richard Morgan, director of policy and planning at Unicef, said: "We need to strengthen our focus in some areas, particularly nutrition, maternal health and sanitation. It would be great to meet the MDGs statistically.

"What would be even better is if, as a result, we pull a large number of people out of poverty and misery, and save large numbers of lives in the process."

Slow progress in war on want

* The proportion living on less than US$1 a day in developing countries fell from 46 per cent in 1990 to 27 per cent in 2005. The UN said about 920 million people will still be living on less than US$1.25 a day in 2015.

* Primary school enrolment rose from 83 per cent in 2000 to 89 per cent in 2008, which means 70 million children worldwide are not in classrooms.

* Reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters and child mortality by two-thirds has lagged. The WHO said there has been a 34 per cent decline to 358,000 deaths in 2008, less than half the goal set in 2000.

* The goal of halting and reversing the Aids epidemic is unlikely to be met.

Making advances

* Ghana outperformed all other countries in reducing hunger by nearly three-quarters, from 34 per cent in 1990 to 9 per cent in 2004.

* Vietnam reduced the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day from nearly 66 per cent to 20 per cent in just 14 years.

* Ten African countries, including Ethiopia, Egypt and post-conflict Angola, have halved their absolute poverty levels.

* Benin ranked in the top 10 in education improvements.

* Angola and Niger significantly reduced child deaths.

- AP


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