Progressing Towards the Millennium Development Goals As Basis for Achieving Peace and Security

1
Progressing Towards the Millennium Development
Goals As Basis for Achieving Peace and Security

• Richard Leete, PhD
• UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia
• UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia,
  Singapore and Brunei Darussalam
• June 30, 2005
• Kuala Lumpur

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Poverty as a threat to peace and security
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• Beyond terrorism and weapons of mass destruction,
  UN also acts against risks and realities of
  poverty, hunger and disease
• Article 1 of UN Charter is to take effective
  collective measures for the prevention and
  removal of threats to the peace
• Globalization has made our world more
  interconnected. Business, government, and civil
  society alike, have an interest in ensuring that
  globalization delivers benefits to all
• Poverty not only destroys people within national
  boundaries, it ripples outward in waves,
  spreading misery

3
Towards a larger freedom
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• I am profoundly convinced, that the threats
  which face us are of equal concern to all. I have
  called the report In Larger Freedom, words are
  from UN Charter and convey the idea that
  development, security and human rights go hand in
  hand. In a world of inter-connected threats and
  opportunities, it is in each countrys
  self-interest that all of these challenges are
  addressed effectively.
• Kofi Annan, UNSG, New York, March 2005
• Report has 4 sections
• Freedom from Want covers development issues
• Freedom from Fear covers terrorism
• Freedom to Live in Dignity covers human
  rights and democracy
• Strengthening the United Nations covers
  organizational changes

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MDGs - Context
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• September 2000 Millennium Declaration (MD) agreed
  by 189 world leaders contains 8 mutually
  reinforcing time-bound goals (MDGs)
• MDGs an accountability framework and a global
  partnership for progressively eradicating
  poverty in all its dimensions
• MDGs synthesize goals of 1990s global UN
  conferences
• MDGs are international communitys commitment to
  eradicate poverty by 2015
• at forefront of global development agenda
• in addition to income, non-income dimensions
  include health, education, womens empowerment,
  and environmental management
• September 2005 UN General Assembly will review
  progress of MD implementation, especially of
  MDGs
• most countries have prepared national MDG
  reports, including Malaysia

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The 8 MDGsEach has time bound targets and
indicators
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Target 1 1/2 of people whose income ltUS1 a
  day
• MDG 2 Achieve universal primary education
• MDG 3 Promote gender equality and empower
  women
• MDG 4 Reduce child mortality
• MDG 5 Improve maternal health
• MDG 6 Combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other
  diseases
• Target 7 Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse
  the spread of HIV/AIDS
• MDG 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
• MDG 8 Develop a global partnership for
  development
• Target 11 Deal comprehensively with developing
  countries debt problems through national and
  international measures to make debt
  sustainable in the long term

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Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
Some regions are reducing extreme poverty in
others poverty is on the rise
Linear trend from 1990-2000
Current trend
MDG goal in 2015
MDG goal in 2015
Ahead of target
Population living in extreme poverty ()
Behind target
Middle East and North Africa
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and Caribbean
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
East Asia and Pacific
7
Equality and non-discriminationBasic human
rights principles
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• Disaggregation of MDG indicators key for
  targeting pro-poor policies and strategies
• sex, age, ethnicity, location, income, etc.
• Huge poor-rich differentials in social outcomes
• differentials in access and quality of social
  services
• cultural and traditional barriers
• lack of womens empowerment
• Resource gaps, financial and human, to supply
  basic social services to poorest

8
MDG 1 Poverty MDG targets already achieved
projected to be eliminated before 2015
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
35
Trend from 1990 - 2002
Extrapolated trend
30
1990
Target in 2015
Ahead of target
25
Households living below poverty line ()
1990
20
1990
1990
2002
15
10
2002
5
2002
2002
0
MALAYSIA
Pen. Malaysia
Sabah
Sarawak
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Progress of poverty reduction in all states,
1990-2002, but some still lagging
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
Sabah
Progress
Terengganu
2002
1990
Kedah
Kelantan
Sarawak
Perak
Perlis
Melaka
Pahang
Johor
N. Sembilan
Pulau Pinang
Selangor
Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Households living below poverty line ()
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Poverty rates vary markedly among Sarawaks
diverse communities
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
Poverty rates 2002
Sarawak 5.8 Bumiputera
8.0 Malays 5.2 Ibans
10.5 Other indigenous
6.8 Chinese 1.0
Population 2000 2,008.8 thousands
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HIV/AIDS puts development gain at risk
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• HIV/AIDS poses an unprecedented threat to human
  development and security. The disease is wrecking
  millions of families and leaving tens of millions
  of orphans. More than just a public health
  crisis, AIDS undermines economic and social
  stability, ravaging health, education,
  agriculture and social welfare systems. While
  placing an enormous drag on economic growth, it
  also weakens governance and security structures,
  posing a further threat.
• Kofi Annan, UNSG
• A world in which every 3 million people die of
  AIDS is not a world of larger freedom
• HIV/AIDS is devastating southern sub-Saharan
  Africa, where in a few countries more than one
  third of the adult population are HIV-positive

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Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
HIV/AIDS continues to spread at alarming
proportion in sub-Saharan Africa
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Linear trend from 1990-2000
10
Current trend
MDG goal in 2015
9
On target
8
Behind target
7
South Asia
Middle East and North Africa
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa
East Asia and Pacific
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Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
MDG 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases
HIV/AIDS a growing issue, particularly for
Malaysian males
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Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security
Injecting drug users most at risk of HIV
1986-2002
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Conclusion
Progressing Towards the MDGs As Basis For
Achieving Peace and Security

• MDGs are achievable as Malaysia has shown, and
  with development, peace and security are more
  readily attainable
• Global partnership must focus ODA, with renewed
  determination, on poorest countries, avoiding
  thugocracies
• Sachs Plan for worlds richest countries to
  assist worlds poorest, including fairer trade
  and debt forgiveness
• Adverse geography features must be factored into
  solutions
• Especially important are investments in human
  capital, especially in health and education, as
  well as infrastructure