The MDGs at midpoint: What do we know and next steps

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The MDGs at mid-point What do we know and next
steps
International Conference on MDG
Statistics Manila, 1 October 2007

• Francesca Perucci
• United Nations Statistics Division

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Monitoring progress towards the MDGs

• Why is monitoring important?
• The impact of the monitoring requirements
• What do we know at the MDG mid-point?

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Monitoring progress towards the MDGs

• Why is monitoring important?

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Monitoring an essential element in achieving the
goals

• Global monitoring
• To inform the international political debate
• To sensitize public opinion on global development
  issues
• To help development partners identify priorities
• To improve coordination and collaboration within
  the international community
• National monitoring
• To raise awareness and help focus national debate
  on development issues
• To help set national priorities
• Both processes have been instrumental to increase
  the demand and promote the use of statistics for
  policy making and monitoring

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Monitoring the MDGs and the impact on statistical
systems

• Monitoring requirements in countries have
  increased the demand for official statistics
• National and international reports have increased
  the visibility of official statistics
• Monitoring reports are important advocacy tool
  for strengthening statistical capacity and
  improving statistics
• Monitoring requirements have called the attention
  to shortcomings in the availability of data

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Monitoring progress towards the MDGs

• The impact of the monitoring requirements

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Global monitoring bringing the national and the
international statistical systems closer together

• Data gaps and inconsistencies have been uncovered
  in the international series
• The dialogue between national and international
  statistical communities is initiated in the UN
  Statistical Commission and in the IAEG on MDG
  Indicators
• The Friends of the Chair review whats available
  in international sources
• The debate has been very intense and has resulted
  in a number of very concrete and effective
  actions.

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Improved dialogue the first results

• Results
• ECSOC Resolution, in July 2006, to address
• issues related to national statistical capacity
  building
• transparency and adequacy of metadata in
  international sources
• use of sound methodologies for MDG indicators and
  estimates.
• Increasing involvement of countries agencies in
  the process of estimation and adjustment of data
• National statistical offices in the IAEG made
  recommendations to improve data availability in
  international sources
• Through improved reporting mechanisms
• Through better coordination within national
  statistical systems
• Better understanding by national statisticians of
  MDG indicators metadata

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Monitoring progress towards the MDGs

• What do we know at the MDG mid-point?

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The MDGs at mid-point

• The Millennium Declaration and the Millennium
  Development Goals (MDGs) have become a truly
  shared framework for development.
• The MDG mid-point presents a vital opportunity
  for UN leadership and for donor countries to
  promote and support acceleration of the
  implementation of the MDGs.
• The focus for the remaining seven years must be
  on implementation.

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Progress at the MDG Mid-Point

• Seven years on and halfway to 2015, the deadline
  set for the achievement of the Millennium
  Development Goals, we see that success is
  possible.
• The Goals, which set quantitative benchmarks to
  halve extreme poverty in all its forms, are
  achievable if countries commit themselves to
  sound governance and accountability and receive
  adequate support from the international
  community.

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What do we know?

• For the first time, we have enough data to see
  what progress has been made since world leaders
  committed themselves to eradicate extreme
  poverty.
• The results presented in the 2007 Report suggest
  that there have been some gains and that success
  is still possible in most parts of the world.
• Encouragingly, data suggest that some progress is
  being made even in those countries where the
  challenge is greatest and it points to some
  success in building the requisite global
  partnership.

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Progress is visible in many areas

• The proportion of people living in extreme
  poverty fell from nearly a third to less than
  one-fifth cent between 1990 and 2004.
• The number of extremely poor people in
  sub-Saharan Africa has leveled off and the
  poverty rate has declined by nearly six
  percentage points since 2000.
• Child mortality has declined globally
  life-saving interventions are effective in
  reducing the number of deaths due to the main
  killersas demonstrated by measles.
• Key interventions to control malaria have been
  expanded.
• The tuberculosis (TB) epidemic appears finally on
  the verge of declining, but progress is not fast
  enough to halve prevalence and death rates by
  2015.

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Progress is visible in many areas

• Progress has been made in bringing more children
  to school in the developing world. Enrolment in
  primary education grew from 80 per cent in 1991
  to 88 per cent in 2005.
• Womens political participation has been growing,
  albeit slowly. Even in countries where
  previously only men were allowed to stand for
  political elections, women have been elected.

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The Goals can be achieved even in very poor
countries

• Many African countries are leading the way in
  developing national-scale programmes that have
  yielded big results in a short time
• agricultural productivity has been dramatically
  raised in Malawi
• more children are going to primary school in
  Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
• malaria is being brought under control in Niger,
  Togo, Zambia and Zanzibar
• land is being reforested on a large scale in
  Niger
• and Senegal is on track to halving the proportion
  of people without access to clean water and
  sanitation.

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But a lot remains to be done

• Over half a million women still die each and
  every year from treatable and preventable
  complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
• If current trends continue, the target of halving
  the proportion of underweight children will be
  missed by the amount of 30 million, especially
  because of slow progress in Southern Asia and
  sub-Saharan Africa.
• The number of people dying from AIDS worldwide
  has increased to 2.9 million in 2006 and
  prevention measures are failing to keep pace with
  the growth of the epidemic. In 2005, over 15
  million children had lost one or both parents to
  AIDS.
• The benefits of economic growth in the developing
  world have been unequally shared. Widening income
  inequality is of particular concern in Eastern
  Asia.

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And despite renewed commitments, aid falls

• Rich countries need to meet the long-standing
  target of devoting 0.7 per cent of their gross
  national income to official development
  assistance. The leading industrialized countries
  pledged to double aid to Africa by 2015, at the
  G8 Summit in 2005, and have just reaffirmed this
  commitment at the Heiligendamm Summit. But since
  then, aid to the continent and overall to the
  poorest countries, excluding debt relief and
  humanitarian assistance, has barely increased.

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Eradicate extreme poverty hunger
1

• Extreme poverty is beginning to fall in
  sub-Saharan Africa, and child hunger is declining
  in all regions

Proportion of people living on less than 1 a
day, 1990 and 2004 (Percentage)
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Achieve universal primary education
2

• Universal primary education is in sight, though
  children in sub-Saharan Africa trail far behind

Total net enrolment ratio in primary education,
1990/1991, 1998/1999 and 2004/2005 (Percentage)
20
Promote gender equality and empower women
3

• Doors to labour markets are opening slowly for
  women

Employees in non-agricultural wage employment who
are women, 1990 and 2005 (Percentage)
21
Reduce child mortality
4

• Vaccinations spur a decline in measles, but child
  survival rates still show slow improvement

Under-five mortality rate per 1,000 live births,
1990 and 2005
22
Improve maternal health
5

• Health-care interventions for mothers need to be
  made more widely available

Proportion of deliveries attended by skilled
health care personnel, 1990 and 2005 (Percentage)
23
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria other diseases
6

• Prevention measures fail to keep pace with the
  spread of HIV, while the need for AIDS treatment
  grows

Population living with HIV in need of treatment
who are receiving antiretroviral therapy, 2006
(Percentage)
24
Ensure environmental sustainability
7

• Loss of old-growth forests continues

Proportion of land area covered by forests, 1990,
2000 and 2005 (Percentage)
25
Ensure environmental sustainability
7

• Growing greenhouse gas emissions continue to
  outpace advances in sustainable energy
  technologies

Emissions of carbon dioxide, 1990-2004 (Billions
of metric tons)
26
Develop a global partnership for development
8

• Official development assistance declined between
  2005 and 2006 and is expected to continue to fall
  slightly in 2007 as debt relief declines
  further.

Official development assistance from developed
countries, 1990-2006 (Constant 2005 United States
dollars)
27
Develop a global partnership for development
8

• preferential market access has stalled

Proportion of imports from developing countries
(excluding arms and oil) admitted to developed
countries duty-free, 1996-2005 (Percentage)
28
Accelerating MDG implementation

• Nationally-owned development strategies and
  budgets must be aligned with the MDGs. This must
  be backed up by adequate financing, including ODA
  where necessary, within the global partnership
  for development and its framework for mutual
  accountability.
• Stronger national statistical systems and
  associated capacity building are needed to
  achieve the MDGs.
• The UN Policy Committee has established a Task
  Force to monitor implementation.
• The UN Secretary-General has launched a new
  initiative to accelerate progress in Africathe
  MDG Africa Steering Group.