What's New in the MDGs
20 April 2009
Worth a look -- though needing to be taken, as with all such declarations, as depending entirely on implementation commitments -- the draft summit document from the Organisations of American States' Summit of the Americas, which contains lots of solid language on the MDGs. An encouraging sign that progress is being made? According to El Pais , Latin American Ministers of Education are currently preparing an ambitious plan to improve early childhood education in the region.
March/April 2009 (Part 1): The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the MDGs
It seems that we hear every day about the impact of the financial crisis in our local context -- jobs, immigration, the environment . . .
What we don't hear about quite so often is the impact that the financial crisis will have on developing countries. And yet, as Kevin Watkins writes in his article Leaving the Poorest to Pay, "While international media attention has been fixed on banking systems, the economies of some of the world’s poorest countries and households are also taking a hit."
What will the impact be for the MDGs? And how should we respond? In his article, Watkins sets out some financial and human development consequences of the crisis and asks "When are we going to see a financial rescue package for the Millennium Development Goals?" Watkins argues that while national policy reform and a commitment to tackling inequality of opportunity are important, aid has a key role in financing education and health systems and promoting/sustaining growth.
In a powerpoint entitled The Millennium Development Goals: Bankable Pledge or Subprime Asset?, available from the GEG website, Watkins sets out in more detail where we are in the MDGs, the impacts of the financial crisis, risks for the MDGs and possible responses.
October 2008: A Selection of New and Interesting Items on the MDGs
Standing Up in Portsmouth (Roman Catholic) Diocese
Hugh Gibbons, CAFOD Portsmouth Schools and Media Volunteer, is co-ordinating "Stand Up" activities on Friday, October 17th in the diocese's schools. As of the beginning of October, he already had 1300 students participating! Hugh notes that he feels Stand Up is:
an excellent extra for any school's Personal Social and Health Education
an excellent opportunity to join in a worldwide campaign - in the classroom
an excellent way of showing everyone what children care about and stand up for
Standing Up around the World
BOND, the NGO that is coordinating "Stand Up" events in the UK, has sent out information about some of the people who will be standing up in other countries. They state:
Amongst the millions of people Standing Against Poverty are individuals with compelling stories to tell.
This includes activist and journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu, who has dedicated his life to exposing and fighting bad governance in Tanzania. As the result of his hard-hitting reporting, his citizenship in Tanzania was temporarily revoked. During Stand Up and Take Action this year, Ulimwengu will spearhead demands for the government to fulfill the MDGs by ensuring that poor people have access to clean water, improving access to healthcare (particularly for women and children), putting in place pro-poor development policies and improving service delivery in all key sectors.
Also Standing Against Poverty is James Njoroge Gitau, who lives in the Kariobangi slums in Kenya, surviving on less than one dollar a day. Gitau has mobilized more than 100 schools and churches to Stand Against Poverty and is organizing a medical camp to care for sick people in his community. Gitau is calling on his government to put in place pro-poor policies, stop corruption and allocate resources for programs for the poor.
In Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, India, Yogesh Jain will once again Stand Against Poverty. Last year, Mr. Jain mobilized more than 200,000 people to Stand Up in protest of the district's lack of healthcare, clean drinking water and resources for education. As a result of the massive mobilization, government officials conducted surprise inspections which resulted in the allocation of funding for infrastructure repairs and the allotment of government land for school construction.
To see more of what is going on or to register your event, go to http://www.standagainstpoverty.org
What happened at the UN's High Level Event on the MDGs and Responses to It
The Archbishop of York helped launch the "Education for All" initiative. A complete list of new partnership commitments can be found on the UN's MDG website. A brief analysis from Tearfund, with a link to a longer analysis can be downloaded here.
September 2008: A Selection of New and Interesting Items on the MDGs
From the Churches
Micah Sunday 2008 will be on 19 October. Micah Challenge UK, which is a coalition of UK churches and agencies, is asking Christians to join with millions of people around the world in
-- praying for world leaders to fulfill their promises on the MDGs
-- "standing up and taking action" to show support for the MDGs
You can register to be sent information and materials about Micah Sunday at http://www.micahchallenge.org.uk/micahsunday/ The materials will include a resource sheet with prayers, stories, and sermon suggestions, as well as postcards calling on the UK government to strengthen its commitments on climate change, and suggestions for churches wishing to take part in the "Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty" campaign (see below)Micah Challenge UK is part of the international network of Micah Challenges, which is in about 40 countries around the world. If you're participating in Micah UK, why not also try to incorporate some of what other Christians are doing? Look at what's happening "Down Under," Try a Bible study on mission that serves justice and righteousness from Micah in the Philippines, or be inspired by the way that some local churches are becoming involved in development issues in Zambia . . . .
- At the Lambeth Conference, a call emerged for "a day of prayer and fasting" around the 25th of September, when the UN is holding a high-level session on the Millennium Development Goals. The Diocese of London is responding to this call by holding a service on the 14th of September at St. Paul's and then encouraging churches in ten days of prayer, culminating in a day of fasting and prayer on the 24th of September. The initiative is called Think:Fast; resources will be available at a special Think:Fast website from the 8th of September. All are welcome to join in. You can access the Bishop of London's Think: Fast statement and prayer by clicking on the appropriate title in the box at the upper left of this page.
Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, a US group that encourages Christians to be involved with the Millennium Development Goals as a way of living out the Gospel, is also offering a panoply of resources for the 25th of September. One aspect of their initiatives which might be of particular interest is the "World MDG Blogging Day". Are you a blogger? Join in!
From the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) 
- GCAP is better known as "The White Band Campaign," for which MakePovertyHistory was the UK platform in 2005. It's still going strong, and is at the heart of planning for "Stand Up and Take Action" globally.
"Stand Up and Take Action" (which is supported by GCAP, the UN Millennium Campaign and Micah Challenge International) involves getting people around the world quite literally to "stand up" in a mass symbolic action to show their support for the Millennium Development Goals. The idea is to get large numbers of people involved, to make the point that development needs still to be at the top of political agendas. Last year 43.7 million people around the world participated.
The UK "Stand Up" campaign is being coordinated by BOND (British Overseas NGOs in Development) which has produced general, church and school toolkits for the event, all available on their website.
From the UN
- Looking for information on the high level meeting about the MDGs on September 25th? You can find it at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel/
- Developing countries often complain that the "partnership" MDG is too vague, and that developed countries aren't being held to account regarding key commitments on debt, aid and trade. A new UN report is designed to help focus attention on these areas. Its press release notes: "Important gaps remain in delivering on the global commitments in the areas of aid, trade, debt relief, and access to new technologies and to affordable essential medicines. In the countdown to 2015, urgent responses are needed to bridge the existing implementation gaps to make good on the promises made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. A recently released report by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force identifies these gaps in detail and provides recommendations to all major stakeholders on how to address these gaps." You can read the report at http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/
From the World Bank
- To help you understand and communicate some of the realities behind the Millennium Development Goals, the World Bank has a new online atlas of the MDGs. It allows you to see graphically how countries are doing on the targets, and to create maps where countries' size relates to their achievement (or lack thereof) of specific goals.
July 2008 New and Interesting Items on the MDGs
From the Churches
- The Lambeth "Walk of Witness"
Hailed by the Prime Minister as "one of the greatest public demonstrations of faith that this country has ever seen," the Lambeth Walk of Witness was a moving testimony to the Churches' (and other faiths') support of the MDGs. Read coverage from the BBC, the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph and the Times, listen to the Archbishop's speech or Hellen Wangusa's "Thought for the Day" on the topic, or the blogs of the Bishop of Grimsby and the Bishop of Croydon.
The Anglican Communion statement on the MDGs, which was handed in to Gordon Brown at the Walk of Witness, will be brought to the High-Level Event on the MDGs to be held this September at the UN.
- Micah Sunday and "Stand Up and Take Action"
Micah Sunday this year is the 19th of October. Join Christians of many denominations in countries around the world as they call for governments to keep their promises on the MDGs. Materials for the Sunday are available from the Micah Challenge UK and Micah Challenge international websites. This year, Micah will also be working alongside the UN Millennium Development Campaign's "Stand Up and Take Action" event. Last year 43.7 million people worldwide participated in the Stand Up event.
From the UN and the World Bank
- How can the MDGs best be met in Africa? Read the recommendations of the UN's MDG Africa Steering Group here.
- The World Bank has recently produced the Global monitoring report 2008: MDGs and the environment: agenda for inclusive and sustainable development.